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News from writing conferences and literary events from the United States, Canada, and beyond including centers and virtual offerings.

2020 Writing & Literary Event Updates

With the uncertainty around the world and each country doing their best to respond to COVID-19 and stop the spread of the virus, many events are being postponed or cancelled. I have compiled a list of events that have updated their sites or social media with this information. I will update this post along with our Guide to Writing Conferences & Events when I find new ones. Know of any that need to be added to the list? Please contact us.

Arizona

Tucson Festival of Books – Cancelled, 2021 dates TBA

University of Arizona Poetry Center – Cancelling events through May 15

The Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing – Events postponed or cancelled through April 8

Arkansas

Six Bridges Book Festival – Postponed until fall, dates TBA Continue reading “2020 Writing & Literary Event Updates”

Driftwood Press 2020 Seminar Series

In 2020 Driftwood Press will offer two courses in its Seminar Series. The first is an Erasure Poetry Seminar instructed by Jerrod Schwarz. He is an instructor of creative writing at the University of Tampa and his own erasure poetry has appeared in PANK, Entropy, Poets Reading the News, and the Plath Project. Applications open through April 30. This course will run five weeks from June 1 through July 3. The course is entirely online.

The next course is the Editors & Writers Seminar. This is a five week online class designed for writers submitting to magazines, for writers who want to be editors of short fiction or literary magazines, and writers who want to become better editors of their own work and others’. The course will be limited to 20 students. Applications are open through April 30. Managing fiction editor of Driftwood Press, James McNulty is the instructor. The course will run from June 1 through July 3.

Alongkian Writer Conferences June 2020 New York Pitch Conference

New York Pitch Conference headerAlgonkian Writer Conferences hosts the New York Pitch Conference and writers workshop four times a year. The next event is taking place June 18 through 21. Their goal is to help set writers on a realistic path to publication.

This event focuses on the art of the novel pitch “as the best method not only for communicating your work, but for having you and your work taken seriously by industry professionals.”

The registration fee will go up after June 13. Learn more…

AWP: Money for nothin’ and the drinks aren’t free

AWP imageThe Problem of Money and Access at AWP. By Alison Stine, Lit Hub.

Is it possible to attend AWP if you’re poor? If you’re not going to be reimbursed by a university, should you even bother? The short answer is: I did it, and many others do too—but it can be a lonely and difficult experience.

…Though AWP was funded to serve writers teaching at the college level, more and more writers just can’t get those jobs, especially not writers of color, women writers, or writers who are disabled. There just aren’t that many jobs anymore to get. More and more, it’s writers outside of academia who participate in AWP—not just to attend, but to present and give readings—and who shoulder expenses themselves.

…It’s not illegal to discriminate against the poor. But when 60 percent of college students face food insecurity every month; when academia runs on the exploitation of adjuncts’ labor; when tenure track professors give lectures to hordes of students, only a fraction of whom will ever obtain jobs in the profession in which they trained (and often paid dearly for), it seems glaringly insensitive not to directly address the deep and systematic income inequalities of the field.

Killer Nashville 2020 Registration Deadlines

Killer Nashville 2020 ContestsKiller Nashville is the premier forum for all genres incorporating elements of mystery, thriller, or suspense. It brings together forensic experts, writers, and fans of the genre for a weekend in August in Franklin, Tennessee.

The 2020 conference takes place August 20-23. The early registration deadline is March 31 with August 19 being the regular deadline.

They also offer writing contests for both published and unpublished works with winners receiving discounted registration. Learn more…

9th Annual Chesapeake Writers’ Conference

Chesapeake Writers' Conference logoApplications are being accepted on a rolling basis for the 9th annual Chesapeake Writers’ Conference. The event takes place June 21 through 27. This year’s faculty includes Liz Arnold, Matt Burgess, Patricia Henley, Crystal Brandt, Angela Pelster, and Matthew Henry Hall.

This year they will be offering workshops in songwriting along with workshops in fiction, poetry, screenwriting, translation, and creative nonfiction. They also offer craft talks, lectures, readings, and panel discussions, plus a youth workshop.

Scholarships, course credit, and continuing professional development are also available. There is no fee to apply. Learn more…

The Writer’s Hotel 2020 Application Deadlines

The Writer's Hotel logoThe Writer’s Hotel’s All-Fiction Conference will take place June 3 through 9 in NYC. The deadline for writers to apply is March 22 at midnight. There is a $30 application fee.

Faculty this year includes Rick Moody, Jeffrey Ford, Robyn Schneider, Michael Thomas, Ernesto Quiñonez, James Patrick Kelly, Elizabeth Hand, Francine Prose, Saïd Sayrafiezadeh, Sapphire, Elyssa East, Kevin Larimer, Steven Salpeter, Jennie Dunham, Shanna McNair, and Scott Wolven.

New in 2020: The Writer’s Hotel is now offering NYC Weekends which are shorter conferences in the genres of poetry and nonfiction.

The deadline to apply to the Poetry Weekend is listed as March 15. This conference will take place May 21 through 25. Faculty for this event includes Mark Doty, Marie Howe, Terrance Hayes, Nick Flynn, Deborah Landau, Alexandra Oliver, Kevin Larimer, Jenny Xie, Shanna McNair, and Scott Wolven.

The Poetry Weekend is capped at 40 participants. There is a $30 fee to apply. If they reach 40 participants before the deadline, the application form will close early.

The Nonfiction Weekend will take place October 1-5. Faculty this year includes Mark Doty, Meghan Daum, Hisham Matar, Honor Moore, Elyssa East, Saïd Sayrafiezadeh, Shanna McNair, and Scott Wolven.

The Nonfiction Weekend is capped at 40 participants. There is a $30 fee to apply.

 

Event :: Elk River Writers Workshop 2020

2020 Elk River Writers Workshop FlierDeadline: Rolling (July 1 final deadline)
Elk River Arts and Lectures is now accepting applications to our summer writers workshop, August 16–21, at historic Chico Hot Springs Resort, 30 miles from Yellowstone National Park. We host some of the most celebrated nature writers in the United States to work with students in an area of Montana that has inspired the work of conservationists and writers for decades. Workshop classes are limited to 10 students in each genre. This year, Rick Bass, Linda Hogan, and J. Drew Lanham, William Pitt Root, and Pamela Uschuk will serve as our core faculty. Apply via Submittable or visit: elkriverwriters.org.

Residency: Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts

Applications can now be submitted by visual artists, writers, and composers from across the country and around the world to be considered for a residency at the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts. Apply online by annual deadlines of March 1 for residencies between July-December and September 1 for residencies in January-June Residencies are available for 2 to 8 weeks stays. Each resident receives a $175 stipend per week, free housing, and a separate studio.

2009 Mission Creek Festival

The Mission Creek Festival returns to Iowa City, Iowa for its fourth year. Taking place from April 1st – 4th, this four-day annual celebration takes over the venues and art spaces in downtown Iowa City, providing an easily navigated nexus of music, literature, and visual art. The festival remains dedicated to inspiring and building our artistic community through the exposure of both underground and renowned artists.

Confirmed bands include: GZA/Genius (of Wu-Tang Clan) performing Liquid Swordz, The Mountain Goats, John Vanderslice, Fruit Bats, Headlights, Bowerbirds, The Tallest, Man on Earth, Simon Joyner, El Paso Hot Button, Caleb Engstrom, Fulton Lights, Golden Birds, and Pieta Brown

Confirmed readers include: Edmund White, Charlie D’Ambrosio, Steven Kuusisto, Forklift: Ohio, Andrew Milward, Mark Leidner, Steve Hanson, with more to come!

Confirmed film: Copyright Criminals – a documentary by Benjamin Franzen and Kembrew McLeod