The writers: conference is a peculiarly American institution, combining an ethic of self reliance and self-improvement with the sunny conviction that all things worth having can be bought or taught. Writers’ conferences, like the M. F. A. programs and other writing courses that have spread in American universities since the middle of the 20th century—there are now upwards of two hundred and fifty of them—are predicated on the principle that the ability to write does not depend solely upon God-given talent but can be acquired. The price of a Bread Loaf education is eighteen hundred dollars for tuition and room and board, though about a third of the students receive scholarships. The most celebrated writers: program in the country, the Iowa Writers: Workshop, established the industry’s ruling metaphor, which is that writing is something like wood-working: you put on your apron, roll up your sleeves, and practice your craft. Iowa has also helped popularize an unfortunate neologism, "workshop" as a transitive verb, the use of which is endemic to a place like Bread Loaf (for example, the sentence "My writers’ group workshopped the hell out of this poem, but I still have to resolve some enjambment issues".)
