Noted authors who have been associated with the conference over the years include Bill Barich, Henry Carlisle, Olga Carlisle, Don Carpenter, Alan Cheuse, Mark Childress, Lucille Clifton, Janet Fitch, Herbert Gold, Jay Gummerman, Gerald Haslam, James D. Houston, Diane Johnson, Yusef Komunyakaa, Li-Young Lee, Philip Levine, Peter Matthiessen, David Perlman, Alice Sebold, Mary Lee Settle, Gary Snyder, Max Steele, Robert Stone, Mark Strand, Charles Wright, Dean Young.
Recent teaching staff included[13] Poets: Kazim Ali, Don Mee Choi, Camille Dungy, Cornelius Eady, Katie Ford, Forrest Gander, Robert Hass, Brenda Hillman, Cathy Park Hong, Juan Felipe Herrera, Major Jackson, Ada Limón, Harryette Mullen, Sharon Olds, Evie Shockley, CD Wright, Matthew Zapruder Recent Fiction and Nonfiction writers: Steve Almond, Tom Barbash, Sarah Shun-lien Bynum, Ron Carlson, Mark Childress, Alex Espinoza, Dagoberto Gilb, Janet Fitch, Lynn Freed, Richard Ford, Karen Joy Fowler, Glen David Gold, Sands Hall, Dana Johnson, Anne Lamott, Michelle Latiolais, Yiyun Li, Malcolm Margolin, Joanne Meschery, Victoria Patterson, Varley O'Connor, Kirstin Valdez Quade, Jason Roberts, Robin Romm, Alice Sebold, Martin J. Smith, Gregory Spatz, Elizabeth Tallent, Amy Tan, Hector Tobar, Diana Wagman, Josh Weil, Tiphanie Yanique, Al Young For over 30 years, Gill Dennis taught the special Finding the Story Workshop at the Community of Writers until his death in 2015.
[14] Teaching Screenwriters include: Eugene Corr, Trey Ellis, Christopher Monger, Frank Pierson, Judith Rascoe, Tom Rickman, Don Roos, Camille Thomasson, Christopher Upham, Michael Urban, Jason Wolos The Poetry Program publishes an annual anthology of poems first written at the workshop.
Community of Writers on the Art of Fiction," edited by Alan Cheuse and Lisa Alvarez, with a foreword by Richard Ford, was published.
Alumni who have been part of this reading series include Anita Amirrezvani, Eddy Ancinas, Ramona Ausubel, David Bajo, Charmaine Craig, Eileen Cronin, Heather Donahue, Cai Emmons, Amy Franklin-Willis, Joshua Ferris, Jamie Ford, Vicki Forman, Alison Singh Gee, Tanya Egan Gibson, Alan Grostephan, Judith Hendricks, Susan Henderson, Sara J. Henry, Rhoda Huffey, Alma Katsu, Krys Lee, Edan Lepucki, Paulette Livers, Regina Louise, Michael David Lukas, Peyton Marshall, Marisa Matarazzo, Mark Maynard, Janis Cooke Newman, Jessica O’Dwyer, Aline Ohanesian, Victoria Patterson, Andrew Roe, Adrienne Sharp, Jordan Fisher Smith, Scott Sparling, Ellen Sussman, Lisa Tucker, Brenda Rickman Vantrease, Mary Volmer, Dora Calott Wang, M.D., Andrew Winer, Alia Yunis, Désirée Zamorano among others including those who have returned as teaching staff.
Writers and poets who have attended the Community of Writers as participants (students) include: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Phillip Barron, Aimee Bender, David Benioff, Elise Blackwell, Michael Chabon, Meg Waite Clayton, Carol Edgarian, Selden Edwards, Jennifer Egan, Thomas Sayers Ellis, Molly Fisk, Lev Grossman, Patricia Spears Jones, Troy Jollimore, Maile Meloy, Nami Mun, Kem Nunn, Kris Saknussemm, Frederick Reiken, Anne Rice, Elizabeth Rosner and many others, including those who have returned as teaching staff.