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Seaside Writers Conference Inspires Authors May 11-17
May 2, 2015 by SoWal Staff
The 2015 Seaside Writers Conference is slated for May 11-17 at the Seaside Academic Village, and offers the opportunity for beginning, intermediate, and advanced writers to celebrate writing, to network with other writers, and to hone their craft.
The conference is an annual gathering of creative writers from all over the nation, and features award-winning writers in poetry and fiction and screenwriting who will offer a full week of intensive writing workshops, one day seminars, school outreach programs, and social events. There will also be seminars hosted by professional editors and literary agents who will offer one-on-one consultations.
This year, the headlining author will be New York Times bestseller Jacquelyn Mitchard, the author of nine novels for adults, a memoir, and twelve other books for YA and children. A member of the 2003 Fiction jury for National Book Awards, her first novel, The Deep End of the Ocean, was the inaugural selection of the Oprah Winfrey Book Club, and was later adapted for a feature film, as was her novel Still Summer.
Mitchard is joined by core faculty members, novelist Matt Bondurant (author of The Wettest County in the World, The Night Swimmer, and The Third Translation) and poet Seth Brady Tucker (author of Mormon Boy, and We Deserve the Gods We Ask For). Agents and editors include Melissa Flashman (Trident Media) and Roger D. Hodge (author of The Mendacity of Hope and editor at the Oxford American).
Each conference a select number of writers will be awarded the Robert & Daryl Davis Fellowship in fiction or poetry. This competitive fellowship includes a full conference tuition waiver in addition to complimentary housing for the duration of the conference in the Seaside Academic Village. This year’s Robert and Daryl Davis Fellows include Blake Sanz and Rose Bunch, fellows in fiction, and Kimberly O’Connor and Rebecca Snow, fellows in poetry. Fellowship application for the 2016 Seaside Writers Conference will be open in August.
The cost to attend the conference is $350.00 and includes workshops, seminars, receptions and special events. There is also a la carte pricing for workshops and seminars. All participants who pay the full conference tuition fee will be able to take part in all daily activities, while those paying a la carte pricing will have the pick of which classes and workshops they would like to attend. All levels of writers are welcome, and there are workshops scheduled specifically for poets and fiction writers.
Homeowners Collection will offer special lodging packages for conference attendees traveling from out of town. All events take place in the Seaside Academic Village at 168 Smolian Circle in Seaside, Florida.
The Seaside Academic Village is located at 168 Smolian Circle in Seaside. To register for upcoming workshops, please visit www.SeasideInstitute.org. Classes take place in the Assembly Meeting Hall adjacent to the Academic Village. Limited housing is provided in the Academic Village for Seaside Institute educational programs at a reduced rate. For more information or questions about Seaside Institute programs, please contact Diane Dorney at ddorney@seasideinstitute.org or call 850-231-2421.
For more details and to register for the Seaside Writers Conference Conference, please visit seasidewritersconference.weebly.com.
Sponsored by Seacoast Collegiate High School and with support from the Seaside Neighborhood School, Seaside Institute, Sundog Books and Cultural Arts Alliance of Walton County (CAA).
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