[I'll be at this conference -- I hope you'll join us. As you read over the bios, you should know that I didn't write my own bio. "Known and respected" sounds a little lame! Ah, well. That's show biz. Also, I don't know whether or not you're a fan of Sharyn McCrumb, but I can tell you that I heard her presentation at a conference several years ago, and she's a remarkably entertaining speaker. I hope you'll spread the word about this conference among your writer friends. -Janis]
The Roanoke Regional Writers Conference will feature 22 well-known writers, mostly from the western half of Virginia, talking about what they know best: writing in many of its forms.
Join us in the evening on Friday September 25 in Fitzpatrick Hall at Roanoke's Jefferson Center for an evening with Sharyn McCrumb and all day Saturday September 26 for the Roanoke Regional Writers Conference!
Friday evening: Sharyn McCrumb, “Writing About Appalachia”
Networking, book signings by the author
Saturday, January 26, 2008 - 9:00 AM to 5:30 PM
Roanoke Regional Writers Conference
Featuring: Sharyn McCrumb, Dan Smith, Nelson Harris, and Tommy Denton
The goal of the conference is to give professional and serious amateur writers and a few select writing students a chance to get to know each other, to learn from each other and to share stories in a relaxed setting.
The classes will be informal and offer an opportunity for interaction among students and teachers.
There will be four classrooms available for the conference, three in the main
Jefferson Center building and one in Fitzpatrick Hall. Classrooms will be assigned at registration.
Conference Schedule
Friday, 7-7:30 p.m. Registration (Fitzpatrick Hall)
7:30-8:15. Sharyn McCrumb, “Writing About Appalachia”
8:30-9 p.m. Networking, book signings by the authors (cash or check only)
Saturday, 8:30-9 a.m. Registration (Fitzpatrick Hall)
Register Online
Classes
9 a.m.-9:45 a.m.
Rehearsal Hall: Nelson Harris and Elizabeth Barbour, “Writing Local Histories”
Training Room: Dan Smith, “The Short Essay”
L.L. Rice Hall: Keith Ferrell, “Blogging”
Fitzpatrick Hall: Sandy Smith, “Using Children’s Stories to Make Your Point”
10-10:45 a.m.
Rehearsal Hall: Kurt Rheinheimer, “Short Fiction”
Training Room: Melanie Almeder, “Writing a Poem from Start to Finish”
L.L. Rice Hall: Todd Ristow, “Writing for the Theater”
Fitzpatrick Hall: Cara Modisett, “What Magazine Editors Want”
11-11:45 a.m.
Rehearsal Hall: Donna Dilley, Kathy Surace, “Writing What You Know”
Training Room: Janis Jaquith, “The Radio Essay”
L.L. Rice Hall: Rex Bowman, “Writing About Country People”
Fitzpatrick Hall: Sarah Cox, “Writing About Your Family”
Noon-1:30
Lunch (soup and sandwich), $6.
Roanoke City Market is four blocks from Jefferson Center and has many good restaurants.
1:30-2:15
Rehearsal Hall: Sandy Smith, “Emphasizing Your Point with Stories”
Training Room: Dan Smith, “The Memoir”
L.L. Rice Hall: Gene Marrano, “Freelance Writing in This Region”
Fitzpatrick Hall: Tom Field, “Writing Persuasively and Getting Feedback”
2:30-3:15
Rehearsal Hall: Darrell Laurent, “Finding Stories in Your Back Yard”
Training Room: Karen Adams, “Writing for Children”
L.L. Rice Hall: John Montgomery, “Writing About Sports and Selling It”
Fitzpatrick Hall: Tyler Godsey, “Getting Your Book into Print”
3:45-4:15
Rehearsal Hall: Andrew Kantor, “Using the Internet for Research”
Training Room: Tommy Denton, “Writing Opinion”
Fitzpatrick Hall: Sharyn McCrumb, “Tell it Slant; Using Historical Events in Fictional Works”
4:30-5:30
Fitzpatrick Hall: Roundtable Discussion featuring various presenters.
Who’s Talking?
Here are brief biographies of the people who will be leading classes:
• Sharyn McCrumb: New York Times best-selling author who lives in Catawba. She has written a number of novels and has won awards for contributions to Appalachian literature and as Southern Writer of the Year.
• Dan Smith is a veteran of four decades of journalism, the winner of a number of awards, a regular essayist on Public Radio and the author of four books, including his recent memoir, Burning the Furniture.
• Sandy Smith is a nationally-known speaker, management consultant, trainer and business coach. His recent children’s book is often used in his presentations.
• Keith Ferrell is the former editor of Omni Magazine, author of 18 books, popular blogger and a medical columnist.
• Melanie Almeder is a respected poet (On Dream Street was recently published) and a former Virginia Teacher of the Year as a professor at Roanoke College.
• Todd Ristau’s work has been produced at London’s West End and he is the founder of No Shame Theater. He is Mill Mountain Theatre’s literary associate and teaches at Hollins University.
• Kurt Rheinheimer is the editor of the Roanoker Magazine and a respected writer of short fiction, especially baseball stories. His Little Criminals has received good reviews nationally.
• Nelson Harris, mayor of Roanoke, minister and writer of several local histories.
• Elizabeth Barbour, freelance writer, law student and author of a local history.
• Cara Modisett is the editor of Blue Ridge Country Magazine and an author.
• Gene Marrano is a freelance journalist involved in radio, television, newspapers and magazines. He has his own television show in Roanoke, “The Interview.”
• Donna Dilley is an etiquette consultant and writes a popular column on business etiquette.
• Kathy Surace is a fashion consultant and writes a column on dressing.
• Janis Jaquith is a known and respected columnist and Public Radio essayist.
• Rex Bowman of the Western Virginia Bureau of the Richmond Times-Dispatch has written one novel and is working on a collection of his stories about mountain people.
• Sarah Cox has written as a freelancer for a number of different publications in the market and also teaches writing at the college and high school levels.
• Tom Field is the general manager of the Blue Ridge Business Journal and owns a marketing and advertising business in Roanoke.
• Darrell Laurent is an award-winning columnist at the Lynchburg News & Advance, where he has written the paper’s lead column for more than two decades.
• Karen Adams writes children’s books, among other things.
• John Montgomery is the publisher of a sports magazine and has a long background in the newspaper business.
• Tyler Godsey has worked for a small book publisher.
• Tommy Denton is the former editor of the editorial page of The Roanoke Times.
• Andrew Kantor is a Roanoke-based freelance writer who specializes in technology. He has taught use of the Internet to journalists.
Register Online
Tickets: $40 registration fee ($46 includes lunch)
Sharyn McCrumb Website
1 comment:
I would love to know email address for Kathy Surace Columnist. Her dress code on finding the right tailor was interesting.
However back in the late 70"s I found myself looking for a tailor to redesign ten pairs of slacks. We were wearing elephant legs at that time or about.
I went to JP Tailoring and I continue to use them. Roy the owner is the best in the Roanoke, Valley. This was a family business at the time I first made my appointment. Many, many years have passed.
The Roanoke times did a article on how fashion changes. Roanoke times called me about my pants and did photos of the pant legs. Nice write up and J. P Tailoring is still doing the quality of work as always.
This is around 37 years of quaility work from JP Tailoring. He is located behind the Roanoke Times. I vote him the best in the Roanoke Valley.
Please forward this message to Kathy Surace. She did a write up on dress code and tailoring.
If any questions just contact Roy at JP Tailoring and he can give you my phone number.
Judy
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