Founded in 1990 by long-time EVST Director Tom Roy (Professor EVST) and Henry Harrington (Professor, English and EVST) at the University of Montana, the Environmental Writing Institute was one of the first writing conferences in the country to focus entirely on nature and environmental writing, issues, concerns, and approaches.
Now in its 21th year, EWI is distinguished not only by longevity, but also by the consistent quality—in teaching and writing—of its workshop leaders, and by the quality of its writing participants and its inspiring and beautiful setting in a writer's town: Missoula, Montana.
EWI participants each year (15 maximum) include both aspiring and accomplished writers--essayists, journalists, scientists, outdoor writers, natural historians, students, and teachers from around the country. Participants are published and unpublished writers whose concerns range widely and wildly from the preservation of biodiversity to the conservation of community, from the ecology of high mountains to the wildness in vacant urban lots. Some participants, familiar with other genres—from poetry to scientific writing—may be trying the personal, narrative, or natural history essay for the first time.
