“Discovering Florida Authors”
In honor of the 500th anniversary of Florida’s discovery
For more information: http://twaonline.org
opens on 2/1/2013 and offers discounted registration prices for TWA members.
Category Archives: Coming Events
Sleuthfest 2013 and More
This year-end entry on Florida writers’ events provides information of several Florida events in January and February of 2013.
SLEUTHFEST
[copy provided by Joanna Campbell Slan. See Phil's Jane Eyre resurrected as amateur sleuth | Phil Jason's Web Site]
Authors Help Aspiring Writers Get Published in 2013
If your New Year’s Resolution is “get published,” you won’t want to miss Sleuthfest on Saturday (SOS), February 16, 2013, at the Hyatt Regency in Sarasota, FL. This powerful one-day writing conference, sponsored by the Florida Chapter of Mystery Writers of America, could rightly be nicknamed “Sleuthfest on Steroids” for its intense, hands-on workshops led by bestselling authors Elaine Viets and Kristy Montee (writing as P.J.Parrish). The registration fee is $125 for MWA members and $135 for non-members, but that price will go up after December 15, 2012, if openings are still available. To register for the conference, go to www.sleuthfest.com Please note that a limited number of guest rooms at the conference hotel are also available at a reduced price on a first-come/first-serve basis—and we’ll get an early start on Saturday, so staying at the conference hotel is highly desirable. Hotel information is available at www.sleuthfest.com
The night before the conference (7 p.m., Fri., Feb. 15), SOS instructors will be signing their books at Bookstore 1, 1359 Main St., Sarasota. It’s a great chance to meet, mingle, and ask a few questions before the sessions start!
At Sleuthfest on Saturday you can sign up to pitch Terri Bischoff, acquiring editor at Midnight Ink, or Jill Marr, acquiring associate agent at the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency. A ten-minute appointment with one or the other is only $20.
If you have a book that needs help, don’t throw in the towel. Go online to www.sleuthfest.com and register today. Two of the first 50 registrants will win a 50-page manuscript critique from either Elaine or Kristy.
Interested in e-publishing? Christine Kling, author of five books that have placed in Amazon’s Top 100 Paid Bestsellers in the Kindle Store, has a special session just for you.
All this, plus a box lunch and a cocktail party, combine to make SOS, a life-line for your career. So don’t delay. Make 2013 the year that you, your book, and your career shift into high gear with Sleuthfest on Saturday.
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MORE
Blue Flower Arts Winter Writers’ Conference
January 6-11, 2013
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Key West Literary Seminar
“Writers on Writers”
January 10-13 & 17-20, 2013
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VONA/Voices – The Miami Workshop
Fiction, Poetry, Memoir, LBGTQ Narrative
January 18-20, 2013
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Writers in Paradise
January 19-27, 2013
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February 15-18, 2013
Filed under Authors and Books, Coming Events
Miami Book Fair International 2012 Update
I just glanced at the growing list of participating authors (presenters and panelists), and it’s enormous. Here are those whose last names begin with “A”:
David Abrams, Fobbit (Grove)
Ibrahim Ahmad, Editor: Akashic Books — Writer’s Institute instructor
Magali Alabau,Volver (Betania)
Andrew Albanese, Meet the Reporters Panel
Gennifer Albin, Crewel (Farrar, Straus and Giroux Books for Young Readers)
Xavier Alcala, Verde oliva (Nawtilus)
Malin Alegria, Border Town #3: Falling Too Fast (Point)
Ramon Alejandro, Adua, la pedagoga (Aduana Vieja)
Martin Amis, Lionel Asbo: State of England (Alfred A. Knopf)
Roberto Ampuero, The Neruda Case (Riverhead Books) / This author is absolutely great. see my: Washington Independent Review of Books » The Neruda Case
Roberto Ampuero, El último tango de Salvador Allende (Random House Mondadori)
Lori Andrews, I Know Who You Are and I Saw What You Did: Social Networks and the Death of Privacy (Free Press)
Fernando Aramburu,Años lentos (Tusquets)
Guillermo Arango, El año de la pera (Universal)
Jorge Luis Arcos, Kaleidoscopio. La poética de Lorenzo García Vega (Colibri)
Robert Arellano, Curse the Names (Akashic Books)
Homero Aridjis, Los perros del fin del mundo, Noticias de la tierra, Tiempo de angeles (Alfaguara, Random House, Fondo de Cultura Economica)
Jami Attenberg, The Middlesteins (Grand Central Publishing)
Ellis Avery, The Last Nude (Riverhead Books)
Karen Avrich, Sasha and Emma: The Anarchist Odyssey of Alexander Berkman and Emma Goldman (Belknap Press of Harvard University Press)
For the rest of the alphabet, and other developing news, click here: http://miamibookfair.com/events/confirmed_authors.aspx
Filed under Authors and Books, Coming Events
MARK YOUR CALENDARS FOR ONE GREAT BOOK FAIR
MIAMI BOOK FAIR INTERNATIONAL 2012
MORE DETAILS TO COME LATER — BUT GET THIS ON YOUR BOOKLOVERS’ CALENDAR NOW.
Presented and produced by The Center @ MDC Nov. 11 – 18, 2012
The 29th edition of the nation’s finest and largest literary gathering, Miami Book Fair International, presented by The Center for Literature and Theatre @ Miami Dade College (MDC), will take place November 11 – 18, 2012, at Miami Dade MDC’s Wolfson Campus, 300 NE Second Ave., in downtown Miami. The always-popular Street Fair runs Friday through Sunday, November 16 – 18, with more than 200 exhibitors from around the country selling books in a festive atmosphere.
The Fair, MDC’s flagship cultural event, will treat book lovers to eight days of cultural and educational activities, including the beloved Evenings With… series, the IberoAmerican Authors program, myriad learning activities for children, and programs for food enthusiasts in partnership with the college’s Miami Culinary Institute.
Back again this year is the fall edition of The Miami Writers Institute, with workshops taught by novelist Margot Livesey, literary agent Kimberly Witherspoon, and award-winning author Teresa Dovalpage with a workshop in Spanish, among others.
This year, the Fair continues to expand its children’s programming, extending the Street Fair to add an additional day of author readings for students on field trips, and a fourth day of readings, storytelling and entertainment on the two children’s stages.
The Fair also continues special programming for educators with the day-long School of Comics and Graphic Novels — a series of workshops on how to use comics in the classroom–and adds workshops on how to teach creative writing to K-12 students.
TOP CONFIRMED AUTHORS
The Fair continues to raise the bar of excellence by offering a fine roster of writers from the U.S. and abroad, and this year will be no exception. Confirmed authors include journalist Robert Caro, essayist and commentator Adam Gopnik, novelist Sandra Cisneros, novelist and essayist Joan Didion and novelist and journalist Tom Wolfe, to name a few.
The IberoAmerican program will present an array of Spanish-speaking literary voices from around the world, including Homero Aridjis (Mexico), Mayra Santos Febres (Puerto Rico), Abilio Estévez (Cuba-Spain), Santiago Roncagliolo (Perú) and more.
Miami Book Fair International 2012 promises to be another exceptional literary event! For regular updates on the Miami Book Fair, please visit www.miamibookfair.com, call 305-237-3528 or email wbookfair@mdc.edu.
MIAMI BOOK FAIR INTERNATIONAL AND The Center @ MDC
Miami Book Fair International is the largest and is regarded as the finest literary gathering in America. It is the premier event of The Center for literature and theatre at Miami Dade College. The Center promotes reading and writing throughout the year by consistently presenting quality literary activities open to all in South Florida. Literacy projects target children of all ages—from kindergarten to high school—as well as college students and adults. Established and emerging writers from South Florida and all over the U.S. read, lecture, and teach workshops. They work with K-12, MDC students, and diverse members of the community, helping to deepen their understanding of literature, and encouraging their work of writers at all stages of development. The Center envisions South Florida as a nexus of literary activity in the Americas and beyond, and will continue to champion its mission of promoting the advancement and appreciation of the literary arts in all forms.
Miami Book Fair International is made possible through the generous support of the State of Florida and the National Endowment for the Arts; the City of Miami; Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council, the Miami-Dade County Mayor and Board of County Commissioners; Miami-Dade County Public Schools; the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau; the Miami Downtown Development; and the Friends of the Fair; as well as many corporate partners.
ABOUT MIAMI DADE COLLEGE
Miami Dade College has a long and rich history of involvement in the cultural arts, providing South Florida with a vast array of artistic and literary offerings including The Miami Book Fair International, The Florida Center for the Literary Arts, The Miami International Film Festival, the MDC Live! performing arts series, The MDC Tower Theater Cinema Series, the Miami Leadership Roundtable speakers’ series, the National Historic Landmark Freedom Tower, numerous renowned campus art galleries and theaters, and the nationally recognized School of Entertainment and Design Technology. With an enrollment of more than 174,000 students, MDC is the largest institution of higher education in the country and is a national model for many of its programs. The college’s eight campuses and outreach centers offer more than 300 distinct degree programs including baccalaureate, Associate in Arts and Science degrees and numerous career training certificates leading to in-demand jobs. MDC has served nearly 2,000,000 students since it opened its doors in 1960.
For regular updates on the Miami Book Fair, please visit www.miamibookfair.com, call 305-237-3528 or email wbookfair@mdc.edu.
Media-only contacts:
Juan Mendieta, 305-237-7611, jmendiet@mdc.edu, MDC communications director
Tere Estorino, 305-237-3949, testorin@mdc.edu, MDC media relations director
Sue Arrowsmith, 305-237-3710, sue.arrowsmith@mdc.edu, media specialist
Alejandro Rios, 305-237-7482, arios1@mdc.edu
Filed under Authors and Books, Coming Events
Florida Heritage Book Festival – St. Augustine
St. Johns County Convention Center at
Renaissance World Golf Village Resort
500 S. Legacy Trail, St. Augustine, FL 32092 
September 13 & 14, 2012 / http://www.fhbookfest.com/
Featuring Jeff Lindsay (keynoter)
Steve Berry
Diana Abu-Jaber
Edna Buchanan (honoree)
–And many others
Filed under Authors and Books, Coming Events
2012 Other Words Conference
November 8th-10th, 2012
Starting with a Thursday night reading by Florida Book Award winners and finishing with our first-ever Advanced Breakthrough Workshops in poetry and fiction on Sunday, Other Words 2012 is set to become a milestone.
The Eighth Annual Other Words Conference, held again this year at Flagler College in the nation’s oldest city of St. Augustine, will include panels, readings, workshops, and Florida’s largest independent literary book fair. Papers and panel proposals on the conference theme of “WANDERLUST: Writing and Travel” are now being accepted. Panels on topics other than the main theme will also be considered.
Gold Medal Florida Book Award winner for poetry Stephen Kampa will lead the opening celebration reading Thursday evening.
Other Words conference readings will conclude Saturday night with two of Florida’s best and most widely travelled prose writers, Kelle Groom and Bob Schacochis.
Concluding the conference are the new Advanced Breakthrough Workshops in Poetry, Fiction and Creative Nonfiction. The four-hour sessions offer writers in-depth work with Other Words core faculty members Terry Witek, Mark Powell, and Ira Sukrungruang.
Conference registration fees remain the same as last year. The new Advanced Breakthrough Workshops being offered for the first time can be taken without full conference registration. Those rates are: Sunday Advanced Breakthrough Workshops Only: $100 for members, $125 nonmembers; Member Students, $55 Sunday only; Nonmember Students $70 Sunday only. See the registration page for full details.
Conference Goals
Kelle Groom
OUR GOAL:
to bring together writers, editors, agents, publishers, book sellers, grant administrators, directors of writers’ colonies and retreats, and other interested folk in one place. We’ll be talking about the how to of the literary arts: how to write it, make it, sell it, fund it, and nurture it.
OUR HOPE:
to bring together hundreds of the region’s literary arts people and form a regional coalition that promotes our mutual literary efforts in as many ways as possible.
For schedule of events, presenting authors, and registration information, click here: http://www.floridarts.org/other-words-conference/
Filed under Authors and Books, Coming Events
FWA’s Florida Writers Conference 2012
Florida Writers Association / 2012 Annual Conference
The Magic of the Pen
October 19-21, 2012
Find your agent, meet your publisher, and get the scoop on the industry at FWA’s 11th annual conference, the most comprehensive conference in Florida for writers of all genres. Register early and get a free gift from FWA.
Click here to register online. Click here to download a registration form.
NOTE: FWA’s Annual Conference is a member benefit. If you are not an FWA member and would like to attend, we welcome you, but there will be an additional $45 charge. You may elect to pay this charge and not become a member, or, you may join FWA for an annual fee of $45.
Want more information? Please click here to go to the 2012 FWA Annual Conference page.
Filed under Authors and Books, Coming Events
Sanibel Island Writers Conference
I’m happy to send along this message from Tom DeMarchi, Director of this fine conference. As usual, he has put together a first-rate group of presenters. Susan Orlean, pictured below, is the keynote speaker. 
Hi there,
Registration for this year’s Sanibel Island Writers Conference is now open!
To see the program, click on: www.fgcu.edu/siwc/register.html
Take advantage of the early bird special.
Note the new small group manuscript workshop option.
If you’re presenting, please be sure to list Sanibel as one of your
upcoming appearances on your website.
If you’re attending (or just want to help spread the word), include us
in your latest blog update.
You can also tell your friends & enemies, your students & families,
your writing groups & workout partners. Post it on your Facebook and
Twitter and Tumblr accounts. I won’t mind at all if you namedrop the
conference in interviews or casual conversation.
Thanks.
Tom DeMarchi
PS: You’re receiving this message for one of the following reasons:
1) You’re a presenter at this year’s Sanibel Island Writers Conference.
2) You’ve attended the conference in the past.
3) You’ve asked to be added to our mailing list.
Tell me if I should remove your name from this mailing list.
Tom DeMarchi
Director–Sanibel Island Writers Conference
Department of Language & Literature
Florida Gulf Coast University
230-590-7421
tdemarchi@aol.com
tdemarch@fgcu.edu
http://www.fgcu.edu/siwc
Filed under Coming Events
SEVEN HILLS LITERARY CONTEST
Seven Hills Literary Contest
Upload Deadline: Aug. 31, 2012
Contest Categories
- Short Story 2,500 word maximum, any genre.
- Creative Nonfiction 2,500 word maximum. Submissions in this genre could include (but are not limited to) memoir, food or travel writing, personal essays, new journalism, biography, nonfiction stories, and nature writing. The emphasis in creative nonfiction is on factually true yet elegant literary expression.
- Children’s Chapter Books 2,500 words maximum. for ages 6-12, with 2,500 word maximum. Submit a synopsis of the chapter book (100 words or less) along with a representative excerpt of 2,500 words. (Note: We offer children’s picture book competition in alternate years.)
- Flash Fiction 500 word maximum.
Prizes
- $100 first place, $75 second, and $50 third. Honorable Mention may also be awarded.
- · Winners are published in the Seven Hills Review and receive one free copy.
Fees
- · $17 per entry for nonmembers; $12 per entry for members. No limit on number of entries.
- · Entries may be submitted through Submishmash.com. See www.twaonline.org for details and link to site.
Donna Meredith
Seven Hills Coordinator
Tallahassee Writers Association
850-878-2931
Filed under Authors and Books, Coming Events
Spring and Summer Florida Writers’ Events
The 3rd Annual University of Central Florida Book Festival
will be held on March 31st, 2012
Join us for one of Florida’s premier literary events, featuring renowned national and local authors, book signings and sales, exhibits, book appraisals, and special children’s activities.
http://education.ucf.edu/bookfest/
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Florida Writers’ Association Spring Mini Conference
On Saturday April 21, 2012, ten speakers will be presenting at the Altamonte Chapel, 825 E. Altamonte Drive (Route 436) in Altamonte Springs, FL 32701.
Cost: $59 for FWA members ($79 for non-members) Click here to register online or by sending a check payable to FWA to Chrissy Jackson, President, P.O. Box 66069, St. Pete Beach, FL 33736- 6069.
NY Times Best Selling author, Tim Dorsey, will be the keynote speaker! Tim’s wildly successful stories of Serge and Coleman crisscross historical Florida sites as their adventures unfold.
For more information – please click here to download our FWA Spring Mini Conference Flyer.
http://www.floridawriters.net/
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Tallahassee Book Festival and Writers Conference
Holiday Inn and Monroe St. Conference Center
May 4-6, 2012
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Fifth Annual
Florida Heritage Book Festival
and Writers Conference
September 13-15, 2012
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The 12th Annual
Gulf Coast Writers Conference
Featuring John Dufresne
Saturday, September 17th, 2011
9:00 A.M. — 5:00 P.M. (Saturday)
http://www.gulfcoastwritersconference.com/
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Filed under Coming Events, Florida Authors
