AUTHORS AT LARGE was founded by Robin Hemley and Xu Xi, both international world travelers and writers who wanted to share their love for international writing and travel with others. Since its inception nearly two decades ago, Authors at Large has held workshops and retreats around the world, in such far-flung destinations as Greece, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Iceland, and Singapore. Besides boutique writing retreats, Authors at Large offers mentorships, book coaching and editing services.
In 2025, Xu Xi decided to step back from the company, but Robin is forging ahead and has some exciting plans and changes in the offing, which he will announce in the coming months. In the meantime, Robin and the other Authors at Large mentors will continue their manuscript and coaching services. If you are interested in any of these services and/or want to be informed of our future travel plans, please watch this space and sign up for our mailing list.
robin hemley
Robin Hemley
Robin Hemley has published sixteen books of fiction and nonfiction and has led writing workshops and other groups around the world, including to such destinations as Greece, France, Spain, Slovenia, Italy, Cuba, Australia, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Myanmar, India, Vietnam, Portugal, Morocco and elsewhere. He writes and teaches both fiction and nonfiction, including the recently-released memoir-in-essays, How to Change History: A Salvage Project University of Nebraska Press, 2025). His craft book, Turning Life into Fiction was in print for 35 years and sold 100,000 copies over its lifetime. He is currently working on a sequel to this book, Turning Life into Literature, which will be published by Bloomsbury. The recipient of fellowships from The Guggenheim Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, as well as three Pushcart Prizes in fiction and nonfiction, he directed the Nonfiction Writing Program at The University of Iowa for nine years and founded the international nonfiction conference, NonfictioNOW (Nonfictionow.org). He is currently Parsons Family University Professor in Creative Writing at Long Island University in Brooklyn and is Professor Emeritus of Nonfiction at The University of Iowa.