Florence, Italy

Summer Intensive

50-Page Summer Intensive Workshop

Florence, Italy

May 21-24, 2025

Futurescapes is an intensive, exclusive workshop, offering writers an unparalleled chance to work with top authors and agents in speculative fiction (science fiction, horror, fantasy, paranormal). Next summer, we’ll be exploring the first 50 pages of your manuscript in the breathtaking city of Florence, Italy. Explore the city, convene with writers, and dive into the first 50 pages of your workshop.

This workshop is smaller and more competitive than our regular workshop. In addition to workshopping a larger portion of your manuscript (~12,500 words), we’ll have plenty of unstructured and semi-structured time to network with fellow students and faculty.




| Workshop the first 50 pages of your Novel |

| 5:1 Student-Faculty Ratio |

| Detailed Feedback on an Extra-Long (50-page) Excerpt of Your Manuscript |

| Generative Sessions |

| Hugo, Nebula, Edgar, Newbery, and World-Fantasy Award Winners & NYTimes Bestselling Authors, Agents & Editors |

| Apply Early - Seating is Capped and Competitive |

Sample Schedule

Day 1:

  • 2:00 PM – 2:30 PM: Arrival and Check-in

  • 2:30 PM – 3:00 PM: Opening Ceremony

  • 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM: Meet & Greet Social

Day 2:

  • 2:00 PM – 6:00 PM: Excerpt Block – Part 1

  • 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM: Meal Break

  • 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM: Class 1

Day 3:

  • 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM: Synopsis Block

  • 4:00 PM – 5:30 PM: Class 2

  • 5:30 PM – 6:30 PM: Meal Break

  • 6:30 PM – 8:00 PM: Query Session

Day 4:

  • 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM: Excerpt Revisit Block

  • 4:00 PM – 5:30 PM: Class 3

  • 5:30 PM – 6:00 PM: Closing Ceremony

The Location

The workshop is set to be held at the Residence la Contessina located in downtown Florence. Residence La Contessina is able to satisfy all types of needs and requests of those who want to stay in the historic centre of Florence for work, study or pleasure. The rooms and apartments are furnished in classic Florentine style with terracotta flooring, and utmost attention is given to all furnishings and decor.

Accommodations are dual occupancy, but we have a workshop only option if you prefer to find your own accommodations.

What’s Included

  • Your accommodations at Residence la Contessina (shared room)

  • Select meals

  • Welcome session

  • 3 interactive class sessions on the craft of writing hosted by our faculty

  • 3 critique sessions to recieve feedback and insights from your cohort and faculty member

  • Final farewell

  • Other activities to mingle and fill the creative well

The 2025 Summer Intensive Faculty

Futurescapes faculty have won or been nominated for numerous literary honors, including the Hugo, Nebula, Compton-Crook, World Fantasy, Bram Stoker, Newbery, Locus, Norton, and the National Book Award.

Lucienne Diver

Agent, The Knight Agency

Lucienne Diver joined The Knight Agency in 2008, after spending fifteen years at New York City’s prestigious Spectrum Literary Agency. With her sharp eye and gift for spotting original new voices, Lucienne is one of the most well-respected agents in the industry. A lifelong book addict, she graduated summa cum laude from the State University of New York at Potsdam with dual majors in English/writing and anthropology. She thus came well-equipped for her work as an agent.

Over the course of her dynamic career she has sold well over seven hundred titles to every major publisher, and has built a client list of more than forty authors spanning the commercial fiction genres, primarily in the areas of fantasy, science fiction, horror, women’s fiction, romance, mystery/suspense and young adult. Her authors have been honored with the Hugo, Nebula, Colorado Book and National Readers’ Choice Awards, and have appeared on the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists. A publishing veteran, Lucienne has superb industry knowledge, and a keen understanding of the foreign rights market.

Fran Wilde

Award-Winning Author

Her first novel, the high-flying fantasy Updraft, was published by Tor in 2015, and won a Nebula and Compton Crook Award. Cloudbound and Horizon—the companion novels to Updraft—completed the trilogy in 2017. All are set in the Bone Universe.

Her novels and short stories have been finalists for six Nebula Awards, a World Fantasy Award, four Hugo Awards, four Locus Awards, and a Lodestar. They include the Hugo and Nebula finalist The Jewel & Her Lapidary, “Unseelie Brothers, Ltd.,” “Clearly Lettered in a Mostly Steady Hand,” and “A Catalog of Storms.” Her short stories appear in Asimov’s Science Fiction, Tor.com, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Shimmer, Nature, Uncanny Magazine, and multiple years’ best collections.

Ali Fisher

Editor, Tor, Forge, Nightfire, Tor Teen, & Starscape

Ali is an editor and performer from the Seattle area, currently living in Brooklyn. She's been studying and performing comedy in New York since 2011 and she reads like it's her job because it is! She works at Tor Books where she’s edited New York Times and USA Today bestselling fiction and nonfiction. She primarily edits science fiction, fantasy, horror, and humor.

Tuition payment plans are available

*If accepted, you must register before the close of the next application period to avoid the price increase!

Applications Now Open!

Futurescapes is extremely competitive. You must apply for admission. Admissions decisions are made on a rolling basis. It is recommended that you apply early as the workshop’s limited spots will fill quickly.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • We make a promise both to you and our faculty that we will not accept your hard-earned tuition money unless your writing is at least approaching professional level. Our faculty love Futurescapes because they know that the writing will be of an exceptionally high caliber. They don’t do Futurescapes just for the fun of it, they want make connections, too, and find potential clients.

  • Acceptance rates vary by workshop, but generally Futurescapes is as competitive as admissions to many top tier graduate programs. The Fall workshop has a lower student cap and is likely to be more competitive than most.

  • We prefer you make your tuition payment within two weeks. We also participate in the PayPal Pay-in-Four (or Pay-in-Three) program that allows you to pay in installments over a longer period of time.

  • We’re looking for a few things:

    1. Mastery of the fundamental mechanics of writing.

    2. Compelling plot, characters, dialogue, and world.

    3. Evidence of at least one standout attribute (e.g., sharp dialogue, great humor, impressive world building, etc.)

  • You will need to submit your up to 50 page excerpt by April 15.

  • Your 50-page excerpt, a rough synopsis, a rough query, a positive attitude, and an open mind.

  • Cancellation policy: Payments for this workshop are nonrefundable.

    We highly recommend you purchase travel insurance to cover your expenses in the event of cancellations or rescheduling.

  • Amerigo Vespucci Airport is 7 km from the city center. However, most people fly into either Rome or Venice and take the train to Florence (and it lets you see the Italian countryside along the way!).

  • The rooms are only available in dual occupancy. If you wish to have a private room, you can choose the workshop only option and choose your own accomodations.