North Carolina Writers’ Network Fall Conference

CARY, NC–Boasting scores of independent bookstores, nationally recognized publishers, and the largest population of members in the state, North Carolina’s Research Triangle is the ideal host for the 2012 North Carolina Writers’ Network Fall Conference, November 2-4 at the Embassy Suites in Cary, NC.

The annual Fall Conference is North Carolina’s premier literary event and one of the largest and most inclusive writers’ conferences in the nation. Held in a different location each year, the Fall Conference offers a prestigious collection of literary talent and a weekend packed with panels, workshops, and readings.

Edith Pearlman will give the Keynote Address. Pearlman’s collection of short stories, Binocular Vision, was published by North Carolina’s Lookout Books in 2011 and won the 2011 National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction and was a Finalist for the National Book Award, among many other honors. Edith will discuss how a lifetime of work went into her “overnight” success.

The Fall Conference offers more than twenty-five workshops in creative nonfiction, fiction, and poetry, as in other aspects of the craft such as writing for children, publishing, and how to wow at an open mic. Registrants can also choose from three Master Classes: Creative Nonfiction (led by Elaine Neil Orr); Fiction (led by Jill McCorkle); and Poetry (led by 2012 North Carolina Literary Hall of Fame inductee Kathryn Stripling Byer).

Participants at the conference may also register for one-on-one sessions with a publishing or bookselling professional. The Manuscript Mart provides writers with the opportunity to pitch their manuscripts and get feedback from an editor or agent with a leading publisher or literary agency. The Critique Service provides writers with in-depth literary critiques of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and screenplays from a seasoned writer. And the Marketing Mart, begun in 2011, provides writers with an opportunity to create or refine an effective plan to pitch, promote, and sell their current, upcoming, or proposed books.

“Our most important offering,” said NCWN Executive Director Ed Southern, “is the chance for writers to get to know one another and trade advice, ideas, and encouragement. We have a number of writers who come to the conference year after year, first as registrants and then—as their careers progress—as instructors.”

More than a dozen exhibitors will peddle their wares around the main conference hall. Raleigh’s Quail Ridge Books & Music will sell books on-site.

Registration is now open. For more information, or to register, visit www.ncwriters.org.

The nonprofit North Carolina Writers’ Network is the state’s oldest and largest literary arts services organization devoted to writers at all stages of development.