Computational Writing 2026
Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity
Application Deadline: March 11, 2026
Program Dates: September 7 – 18, 2026
In our Computational Writing residency, participants can better engage with computing to develop their own systems, whether their goals are conventional book publication or other manifestations of literary art. Methods participants can engage include (but are not limited to) templates, document schemata, grammars, Markov processes, rule-based transformation of existing texts, simulation of characters and settings, vector-space models and word embeddings, and work with LLMs —including fine-tuning them and training them from scratch. Delve deep into your creative project and take advantage of the artistic community of your peers around you.
Faculty include computational writing specialists Dr. Nick Montfort, Dr. Lillian-Yvonne Bertram, Kalen Iwamoto, and professional guest Dr. Daniel Snelson (UCLA).
All the program elements are optional, giving participants the flexibility to choose the amount of support they want.
Description
This two-week self-directed residency offers computational writers:
- Thematic teachings from faculty members and professional guests
- A community of artistic peers
- One-on-one workshopping with faculty
- Optional group sessions exploring useful literary tools, aspects and devices
- An opportunity to showcase your work at a public reading
- A personal studio space equipped for creative work
The program is designed to cater to computational writers working at any stage of their artistic careers, providing them with tailored opportunities for professional development and creative growth.
Participants will benefit most if they are comfortable working autonomously in an unstructured environment.
The program suits those focused on:
- Working on a specific project
- Creating new works within the genre
Scholarships are available.
For more information and to apply banffcentre.ca.
