What is MILFORD?

The conference has been a regular and almost annual event since 1972, drawing members from Britain, Europe, America and Australia. Over the years it has settled into a comfortable, workable format: demanding and exhausting, with much hard work being done; but convivial, with much sitting around and talking about hard work. In short, it's a social as well as a literary event.

The workshop format is that (usually) three or four manuscripts will be discussed each day. Manuscripts are taken in turn. The group sits round a table, and each participant in rotation spends a few minutes giving their reaction to the work at hand. No interruption, whether by the author or anyone else, is allowed during this stage of the proceedings. After everyone has spoken, a more general discussion may ensue, time permitting.

Outline of the week

• Beforehand — Participants are encouraged to distribute their manuscripts by email a fortnight or so before the workshop begins. This gives people the chance (if they wish) to read MS before arriving at the workshop, reducing the workload during the week itself.
• Saturday — Arrive any time from mid-afternoon. There's no programme, just dinner in the hotel and getting to know each other. The week's timetable is posted, setting out when each MS will be discussed.
• Sunday to Thursday — These are the main working days. Mornings are free, and can be used to read manuscripts and prepare notes. Workshop sessions occur in the afternoons, from 2pm. Here the day's quota of material is discussed as forthrightly and constructively as possible, with fairly strict time limits to encourage brevity and allow even the shyest member's voice to be heard. Evenings are for more relaxed conversation and discussion, punctuated by occasional silly literary games. Thursday evening generally includes a marketing session, discussing where the week's MS could usefully be submitted on completion.
• Friday — Usually this will be a free day, in which the group may undertake excursions to nearby places of interest.
• Saturday — Depart after breakfast.
• Afterward — If your manuscript is subsequently published, and you feel that Milford helped you improve it, please let us know for our Success Stories page.

• Our one truly inflexible requirement is that you must bring one or more pieces of unpublished work for discussion.
• Works may be science fiction, fantasy, horror, children's fiction, or of ambiguous genre. Complete stories, partial stories and novel excerpts are acceptable; extracts should be accompanied by leading and/or trailing synopses where appropriate.
• The maximum allowance is 15,000 words. This may be split between more than one work, e.g. a 5,000-word story and a 10,000-word novel chapter. However, we prefer no more than two separate works.
• If you have not previously circulated your MS by email, please bring sufficient hard copies for all participants, in usual manuscript format. You will be informed beforehand how many people are expected to attend the workshop. Even if you have distributed your MS in advance, please bring a few spare printouts in case recipients have had computer or printer problems.
• Beforehand, or on arrival, please inform the Secretary of the number and length of your MS, so that the workshop schedule can be organised.
• Apart from the MS, you don't specifically need to bring anything else, as the hotel provides full board. However, it's worth bearing in mind that the local village does not have any shops or pubs, and there is no bar in the hotel. You may wish to bring your own wine, beer, etc.

Trigonos is situated on the shores of Lake Nantlle in Snowdonia, among the mountains of the Snowdonia National Park. It is about 10 miles from Caernarvon, which is accessible from Bangor railway station by a frequent bus service. Full travel details will be sent to participants. The centre is comprised of an old Victorian house and converted barns, and has a committed approach to sustainable land development and environmental restoration.

The centre runs many courses and workshops, and there may also be smaller other groups during the time that we will be there. It is full board (breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks) and caters to both vegetarians and non-vegetarians, and can cater for vegan guests also. The centre grows much of its own organic produce.

• Milford itself is run on a non-profit basis, and the only fee payable to Milford is a £5 charge to cover general administration.
• All other costs are payable to the hotel for accommodation and the use of a meeting room for the workshopping sessions. The cost for 2010 is £440 per person; this is all-inclusive and covers all meals during the week.
• There is a ceiling of 15 members on a "first come, first served" basis, with a deposit of £100 payable on initial booking. (Of the deposit, £5 is the Milford fee and the other £95 is deductible from the hotel bill.) Late cancellation may mean forfeiting your deposit.
• If the workshop is full, there is a waiting list (in case someone drops out) which you can join by paying the deposit. The treasurer will hold this until the booking is either confirmed or cancelled.

• How do I join Milford?

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