USEFUL WEBSITES
Crewgle.com is a U.K. based website geared to the film-making community. It lists festivals, screenings, crew profiles and feedback, a noticeboard, jobs, blogs, videos, artwork and more, and membership is free. Check it out at: www.crewgle.com.
FESTIVALS & CONFERENCES
The Cheltenham Literature Festival is one of the U.K.’s oldest and largest events of its kind. This year it runs from October 6-15, and has attracted some of writing’s most prestigious authors. The theme for 2006 is identity, and authors who will be speaking include Martin Amis, John Grisham and Frank McCourt. Other big names include Jonathan Franzen, Sarah Waters, Mark Haddon, David Lodge, and Doris Lessing.
For full details, see www.cheltenhamfestivals.com. Within the UK, the box office number is 01242 227979 and the brochure hotline is 01242 237377.
The one-day White County Creative Writers Conference in Searcy, Arkansas, takes place on Saturday, September 2, 2006. They have a great line-up, so if you’re anywhere in their area, check it out at www.whitecountycreativewriters. org. If you can’t make it this year, the Conference takes place on the Saturday of the Labor Day holiday weekend every year.
The Hassayampa Institute for Creative Writing holds its week-long summer conference in the cool pines of Prescott, Arizona, July 24-28th. It’s designed to let participants develop and hone their literary skills, as well as to foster community among writers. It includes morning workshops, afternoon panels and discussions devoted to broader culture issues, and evening readings. For details: www.yc.edu/hassayampa.nsf.
The National Association of Writers’ Groups has their Open Festival of Writing from Friday, September 1 to Sunday, September 3 at St. Aidan’s College, University of Durham, UK. It includes workshops on poetry, writing memoirs and biographies, and writing a blockbuster, as well as one-on-one tutorials, and an awards ceremony. For full details: www.nawg.co.uk.
The next Ligonier Valley Writers Conference, one of the premier writing conferences in the Pittsburgh tri-state area, takes place on July 28 and 29, 2006. Teachers include Hilary Masters, novel; Amanda Lynch, nonfiction; Julia Kasdorf, poetry. For more information, go to www.ligoniervalleywriters.org.
The Green Mountain Writers Conference will be held from July 31-August 4, 2006 at Tinmouth Pavilion on Chipman Lake, Tinmouth, Vermont. It’s billed as a celebration of fiction, creative non-fiction, poetry, journalism, nature writing, essay, memoir, personal narrative and biography. Teachers include Joan Connor, Jeffrey Lent, and Tom Smith. For full details, go to www.vermontwriters.com.
The Nebraska Writers’ Conference took place from June 17-23, 2006, and offered 17 writing workshops on topics including writing novels, short stories, poetry, memoirs, and creative non-fiction. Writers registered for a week-long workshop could also schedule a manuscript consultation with a literary agent. They also offered Master Classes with include a reading and critique of a book-length manuscript. For full details, go to www.unl.edu/nsw.
The Deadly Ink Conference for mystery and crime writers took place June 23-24, 2006 at the Sheraton Parsippany Hotel, Parsippany, New Jersey. The panel topics included Networking, Historical Crime/Mystery, Mixing Genres, Themed Mysteries, Ask the Authors and Ask the Experts. Panelists included Carole Higgins Clark, Hallie Ephron and John Lamb. For full details, go to www.deadlyink.com.
The Book Passage Mystery Writers Conference took place on July 13-16 in Corte Madera, California. It covered everything mystery writers need, from developing ideas and writing skills to finding a publisher. Participants worked closely with mystery writers, agents, editors, and publishers as well as investigators and crime-fighting professionals. For more information, go to www.bookpassage.com. (the site also includes details of day-long courses on a variety of writing topics over the course of the summer).
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The Lincoln (UK) Book Festival 2006 took place from May 12 to 21. It included numerous events featuring writers with outstanding national and local reputations, up-and-coming authors, poetry, comedy, music, film, performance and conversation. For more information, go to www.lincolnbookfestival.co.uk.
The Screenwriting Conference in Santa Fe (New Mexico) bills itself as “simply the best screenwriting conference in the world.” It took place from May 31 – June 4, 2006. It included more than 30 ninety-minute specialized workshops, panel discussions, live scene readings, social events, and the chance to pitch in private to agents, managers, and producers. For full details, go to www.scsfe.com/conference.
WORKSHOPS
Odyssey Writing Workshop at St. Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire is an intensive six-week program for writers of fantasy, science fiction, and horror whose work is approaching publication quality. Previous guest lecturers have included George R. R. Martin, Dan Simmons, Jane Yolen, Elizabeth Hand, Harlan Ellison, and Terry Brooks. Director Jeanne Cavelos is a former senior editor at Bantam Doubleday Dell. For the schedule and other details, see www.sff.net/odyssey.
The San Juan Writing Workshop has three sessions between July 22 and 30. The first covers generating new material, the second is on craft and critique, and the third is about revising and submitting for publication. They don’t overlap, so you can sign up for one, two, or all three. There is also a slate of interesting optional social events. For full details, go to www.homepage.mac.com/inkwellliterary.
The Midwest Writers Workshop takes place on July 27-29 at Ball State University Alumni Center in Muncie, Indiana. Promoted as “three days that wll change your life,” it offers manuscript evaluations and consultation, writing contests with money prizes, and networking with authors and aspiring authors. For more information, go to www.midwestwriters.org.
www.francescoombes.com – Feature writer and columnist Frances Coombes offers several workshops in central London, including “Performance Coaching for Writers,” “How to Sell & Re-Sell Your Writing (Multiple Sales Techniques),” “Article Writing Techniques,” and “Shaping your Book Idea.” Her 2006 workshop schedule is up on her site.
www.screenplaymastery.com – Author and teacher Michael Hauge offers classes across the United States and appears at major script conferences. I’ve known Michael for years and can attest to his integrity and the value of his classes. You’ll find full information about his schedule and services at this site.
PUBLICATIONS
www.writersnews.co.uk – Writers’ News and its sister publication, Writing Magazine, are the U.K.’s foremost writing magazines. They feature how-to articles, interviews with writers, market information and they also sponsor a number of writing contests.
EDITORIAL SERVICES
www.screenplaymastery.com – As well as teaching, Michael Hauge offers one-on-one script consulting. He’s been around a long time and knows what he’s talking about. He also genuinely cares about his clients. See the site for details and rates.
www.writing2sell.com – Michael Garrett was Stephen King’s first editor. He’s a book doctor and also a novelist himself. He offers script doctoring services and writing workshops (online and offline). They include “The Truth About Self-Publication,” “Screenwriting for the Movies,” and “How to Write Your Novel.”