Conferences in the Age of COVID

JONATHAN VATNER

Essayist Jodie Noel Vinson was finally recovering this summer after three years of “long COVID,” the lingering illness that affects some people after contracting COVID-19, when, despite misgivings, she decided to attend the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference in August. Although she knew Bread Loaf’s policy of optional masking and vaccination for participants, she decided the opportunities offered by the prestigious conference outweighed the risks. But her feelings changed after her fourth full day at the conference’s campus at Middlebury College in Vermont, when she learned by e-mail from the organizers that participants had tested positive for the virus, including someone in her workshop. The next day she tested positive herself. After discovering she had COVID-19, she says, Bread Loaf organizers asked her to leave the conference. With an escalating fever,…

You're reading a preview of

Poets & Writers (Digital) - 1 Issue, January/February 2024

DiscountMags is a licensed distributor (not a publisher) of the above content and Publication through Zinio LLC. Accordingly, we have no editorial control over the Publications. Any opinions, advice, statements, services, offers or other information or content expressed or made available by third parties, including those made in Publications offered on our website, are those of the respective author(s) or publisher(s) and not of DiscountMags. DiscountMags does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, truthfulness, or usefulness of all or any portion of any publication or any services or offers made by third parties, nor will we be liable for any loss or damage caused by your reliance on information contained in any Publication, or your use of services offered, or your acceptance of any offers made through the Service or the Publications. For content removal requests, please contact Zinio.