I had the good fortune to meet my friend and mentor, Elizabeth Engstrom, years ago when she was coordinating the writers' retreat at the Maui Writers Conference (now defunct)--a dream-come-true conference and retreat that was held in Maui, Hawaii. The conference featured amazing, NY Times Bestselling writers as speakers and teachers: Terry Brooks, Elizabeth George, Susan Wiggs, and many others.
Guess what?
They're back!
At the Wordcrafters Writers Conference in Eugene, Oregon--March 7, 8, 9, 2014 (There's a writing retreat the week before, but sign up fast, because space is very limited.)
If you can, I urge you to attend. I'm sure this will be one of the best writing conferences on the planet, and the retreat will be amazing. Find out more here.
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| Eugene, Oregon |
When I heard about the conference, I felt compelled to ask Liz 5 Questions. Here's our exchange:
Wow. The lineup for the Wordcrafters Writers Conference in Eugene is
impressive! Terry Brooks, Elizabeth George, Susan Wiggs. And I love that you and
Susan are offering a preconference writing retreat for twenty lucky writers.
This reminds me of the magical Maui Conference—no longer in existence—an event I
attended many times.
Truthfully, I have a lot questions for you, but I’ll limit it to 5:
1) Please tell me about Wordcrafters—when and how
did it form?
First of all, Wordcrafters is more than a conference. We intend to pull
together many literary events in the community, from poetry slams to summer teen
writing camps, community-wide book club, to special presentations by authors,
editors and agents. Wordcrafters is all about the craft of writing. Everything
we do is geared toward improving the craft, with the Conference being the
centerpiece. There will be no promotional programming at the conference: no
agents, editors, pitch sessions, social media, self-publishing, etc. at all. In
2014, the focus is on fiction.
So to answer your question, the idea of a writer's conference in Eugene has
surfaced many times, but suddenly a core of people came together in that
synergistic way that sometimes happens, and boom, Wordcrafters in Eugene was
born. This group formed an enthusiastic and talented board of directors, crafted
a mission statement, and we were off and running. Our first general interest
meeting was in November, 2012. Now we have nonprofit tax status, the tireless
Patricia Marshall as our Executive Director, Daryll Lynne Evans as our Volunteer
Coordinator, and a wonderful lineup of events, both pre- and post-conference.
2) What inspired you to put together this
conference?
I have missed being part of the conference inner workings since the demise
of the Maui Writer's Conference. We did not want to compete with the San
Francisco Writer's Conference nor the Willamette Writer's Conference, as they do
what they do so well. So we created a very specific survey, which was sent far
and wide, to find out what people wanted in a writing conference, and we
designed the curriculum accordingly. We didn't want to reinvent the wheel, we
just wanted to tweak it.
3) What can attendees expect to experience and come away
with?
One of the things that was clear in our survey was that the attendees
wanted a professional to look at their work. So in addition to the incredible
lineup of speakers and presenters, we will have the Craft Lab, where every
attendee will have an opportunity to sit one-on-one with one of the presenters
to discuss their project. We'll have a couple of interesting social events to
promote a little writer-to-writer networking. 2014 is the 50th anniversary of
the publication of Ken Kesey's Sometimes A Great Notion, and as Ken and
the whole Kesey family is an integral part of our local literary heritage, we
will have some events to honor that milestone in his career.
My vision for this conference is that everybody will get back to the love
of crafting good stories. With all the emphasis these days on marketing and
publishing and promotion, we hope to be a little oasis where it's all about the
writing. Good writing.
4) You are an amazing writer and teacher; what is the best advice
you can offer aspiring writers?
That's so nice of you to say. I guess my advice is to write every day, and
don't expect that everything you write is worthy of being published. We have to
practice our craft before we can become professionals. But with dedication to
learning the craft, and persistence in seeing your projects to completion, your
best work can be out there for the world to appreciate, and it will be something
you can be proud of.
5) Who has been the greatest influence on your writing, and
why?
I grew up reading Robert Heinlein, Ray Bradbury, Rod Serling, Edgar Allan
Poe, Robert Silverberg, Theodore Sturgeon, Shirley Jackson, H.G. Wells, Edgar
Rice Burroughs, and even Ian Fleming. I read voraciously, everything I could
get my hands on, and these early forays into great literature of our time had a
profound effect on me. I always knew that I would write, and when I had enough
life experience to have something to say, out poured a body of work that is
clearly an homage to my early literary heroes.
Thanks Liz. And thanks for organizing the retreat and conference. I'm sure it will be wonderful. I hope to attend!
Thanks Liz. And thanks for organizing the retreat and conference. I'm sure it will be wonderful. I hope to attend!
