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26th 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. Previous keynote speakers have included 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, and former Georgia poet laureate, David Bottoms.
Saturday, April 15th begins with light breakfast fare and our keynote speech. The 2023 keynote speaker will be Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle. Annette is a citizen of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and resides in Qualla, NC. She holds degrees from Yale University and the College of William and Mary. Her debut novel, Even As We Breathe (UPK 2020), was a finalist for the Weatherford Award, named one of NPR’s Best Books of 2020, and received the Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award (2021). It also is the first novel published by a citizen of the Eastern Band of Cherokee. Clapsaddle’s work appears in Yes! Magazine, Lit Hub, Our State Magazine, and The Atlantic. She teaches secondary English and Cherokee Studies, is an editor for the Appalachian Futures Series (UPK), and serves on the board of trustees for the North Carolina Writers Network. For more information on our keynote speaker, visit: www.asaunookeclapsaddle.com
The day continues with concurrent workshops on everything from Fiction and Non-Fiction to Poetry and marketing a manuscript. Our 2023 speakers include a wide variety of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry writers. 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 14th. For an additional fee, the Workshop Intensive provides a more concentrated workshop to strengthen and inspire your literary endeavors. The 2023 workshop entitled “Writing Through Change” is an intensive and interactive session lead by poet and novelist Dana Wildsmith on exploring how our writing can be made more useful to ourselves and to the world. Over the past few years, we’ve all learned to adapt to the way we live in a changing world. With some of us, this time of change has resulted in an outpouring of writing which may not be as focused as we need it to be. Others of us have felt our creative life become as cautious and isolated as society has too often seemed. We all need to make sure our writing process has adapted to who we are now, and to what the reading public most needs at this time.
If you are an author and have registered for the conference, you may sign up with the Art Center to have your books for sale on Friday evening during the reception and on Saturday afternoon during the conference until 3:00pm. Please email the Art Center no later than March 17th at blueridgearts@gmail.com to pre-register for a space. Please limit your book sales to no more than (5) titles, with a total of (10) books per title. All books for sale must be delivered to the Art Center no later than 5pm on Thursday afternoon, April 13th. The Art Center will sell books in the Mahan Gallery & Art Supply Station for a 10% commission. We look forward to you joining us this year for our 26th Annual Blue Ridge Writers’ Conference!
Saturday, April 15th begins with light breakfast fare and our keynote speech. The 2023 keynote speaker will be Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle. Annette is a citizen of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and resides in Qualla, NC. She holds degrees from Yale University and the College of William and Mary. Her debut novel, Even As We Breathe (UPK 2020), was a finalist for the Weatherford Award, named one of NPR’s Best Books of 2020, and received the Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award (2021). It also is the first novel published by a citizen of the Eastern Band of Cherokee. Clapsaddle’s work appears in Yes! Magazine, Lit Hub, Our State Magazine, and The Atlantic. She teaches secondary English and Cherokee Studies, is an editor for the Appalachian Futures Series (UPK), and serves on the board of trustees for the North Carolina Writers Network. For more information on our keynote speaker, visit: www.asaunookeclapsaddle.com
The day continues with concurrent workshops on everything from Fiction and Non-Fiction to Poetry and marketing a manuscript. Our 2023 speakers include a wide variety of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry writers. 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 14th. For an additional fee, the Workshop Intensive provides a more concentrated workshop to strengthen and inspire your literary endeavors. The 2023 workshop entitled “Writing Through Change” is an intensive and interactive session lead by poet and novelist Dana Wildsmith on exploring how our writing can be made more useful to ourselves and to the world. Over the past few years, we’ve all learned to adapt to the way we live in a changing world. With some of us, this time of change has resulted in an outpouring of writing which may not be as focused as we need it to be. Others of us have felt our creative life become as cautious and isolated as society has too often seemed. We all need to make sure our writing process has adapted to who we are now, and to what the reading public most needs at this time.
If you are an author and have registered for the conference, you may sign up with the Art Center to have your books for sale on Friday evening during the reception and on Saturday afternoon during the conference until 3:00pm. Please email the Art Center no later than March 17th at blueridgearts@gmail.com to pre-register for a space. Please limit your book sales to no more than (5) titles, with a total of (10) books per title. All books for sale must be delivered to the Art Center no later than 5pm on Thursday afternoon, April 13th. The Art Center will sell books in the Mahan Gallery & Art Supply Station for a 10% commission. We look forward to you joining us this year for our 26th Annual Blue Ridge Writers’ Conference!
