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22nd Annual
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The Mission of the Blue Ridge Writers' Conference is to educate, inform, and inspire writers. No matter the level of expertise, the Blue Ridge Writers’ Conference provides a venue for professional writers, editors and agents to provide honest and accurate feedback to the aspiring writer in how to craft that first novel, sell a magazine article, market yourself in the literary world, or finding inspiration for your poetry. Other previous keynote speakers include a number of well-known writers such as novelist Claire Cook, Terry Kay, mystery writers Patricia Sprinkle, Joshilyn Jackson and Sharyn McCrumb, essayists James Kilgo and Steven Harvey, suspense writer Karin Slaughter, Jaden Terrell, and former Georgia poet laureate, David Bottoms.
Saturday, April 6th begins with light breakfast fare and our keynote speech. The 2018 keynote speaker will be Thomas Mullen. Thomas Mullen is the author of Darktown, an NPR Best Book of the Year, which has been shortlisted for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, the Southern Book Prize, the Indies Choice Book Award, and has been nominated for two CWA Dagger Awards; The Last Town on Earth, which was named Best Debut Novel of 2006 by USA Today and was awarded the James Fenimore Cooper Prize for excellence in historical fiction; and his next novel, Lightning Men, which follows the characters from Darktown two years later, was named one of the Top 10 Crime Novels of 2017 by The New York Times Book Review.
His works have been named to Year’s Best lists by The Chicago Tribune, USA Today, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Kirkus Reviews, The Onion’s A/V Club, The San Diego Union-Times, Paste Magazine, The Cleveland Plain-Dealer, and Amazon. His stories and essays have been published in Grantland, Paste, The Huffington Post, and Atlanta Magazine. He lives in Atlanta with his wife and sons.
The day continues with concurrent workshops on everything from marketing a manuscript to Children’s Literature to assembling a book of poetry. Our 2019 speakers include a wide variety of fiction, non-fiction, poetry writers, editors and much more. Select the About our Speakers tab above for more information on our 2019 speakers as information becomes available. Conference attendees appreciate the chance to network with other writers and speakers during the day and the opportunity to submit their work for critique by one of the conference speakers.
The Blue Ridge Writers’ Conference also offers a four-hour Workshop Intensive on Friday, April 5th. For an additional fee, the Workshop Intensive provides a more concentrated workshop to strengthen and inspire your literary endeavors. The 2019 workshop instructor will be literary agent, Diana Flegal. Seating to this workshop is limited and registration will open December 2018.
High school students from area counties are invited to attend and the Art Center offers scholarships to make this more affordable.
We look forward to you joining us this year for our 22nd Annual Blue Ridge Writers’ Conference!
Saturday, April 6th begins with light breakfast fare and our keynote speech. The 2018 keynote speaker will be Thomas Mullen. Thomas Mullen is the author of Darktown, an NPR Best Book of the Year, which has been shortlisted for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, the Southern Book Prize, the Indies Choice Book Award, and has been nominated for two CWA Dagger Awards; The Last Town on Earth, which was named Best Debut Novel of 2006 by USA Today and was awarded the James Fenimore Cooper Prize for excellence in historical fiction; and his next novel, Lightning Men, which follows the characters from Darktown two years later, was named one of the Top 10 Crime Novels of 2017 by The New York Times Book Review.
His works have been named to Year’s Best lists by The Chicago Tribune, USA Today, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Kirkus Reviews, The Onion’s A/V Club, The San Diego Union-Times, Paste Magazine, The Cleveland Plain-Dealer, and Amazon. His stories and essays have been published in Grantland, Paste, The Huffington Post, and Atlanta Magazine. He lives in Atlanta with his wife and sons.
The day continues with concurrent workshops on everything from marketing a manuscript to Children’s Literature to assembling a book of poetry. Our 2019 speakers include a wide variety of fiction, non-fiction, poetry writers, editors and much more. Select the About our Speakers tab above for more information on our 2019 speakers as information becomes available. Conference attendees appreciate the chance to network with other writers and speakers during the day and the opportunity to submit their work for critique by one of the conference speakers.
The Blue Ridge Writers’ Conference also offers a four-hour Workshop Intensive on Friday, April 5th. For an additional fee, the Workshop Intensive provides a more concentrated workshop to strengthen and inspire your literary endeavors. The 2019 workshop instructor will be literary agent, Diana Flegal. Seating to this workshop is limited and registration will open December 2018.
High school students from area counties are invited to attend and the Art Center offers scholarships to make this more affordable.
We look forward to you joining us this year for our 22nd Annual Blue Ridge Writers’ Conference!
