If you’re a writer living in Ontario (OR BEYOND), I hope you are considering attending this year’s Ontario Writers’ Conference. You owe it to yourself to register. This year’s schedule is looking top notch, yet again. Even when I was on the OWC Board of Directors, I was always surprised and thrilled that the conference attracted such amazing speakers and facilitators. But then, I shouldn’t be. I know how diligent the worker bees behind the conference are. They are always striving to bring registrant writers the best of the best of Canadian literati…to help them along on their own personal writing journeys. We always looked at the conference in a ‘who-would-we-want-to-see?’ sort of way. If we could create the perfect environment for learning, who would we surround ourselves with? And then the building of the next conference would begin. I so miss that part! The planning was so exciting.
This year, they really outdid themselves. Just look at the schedule! On Friday, there are THREE MASTER CLASSES in the afternoon:
NICHOLAS BOOTHMAN – PACKAGE YOUR EXPERTISE
WAYSON CHOY – LIVING DANGEROUSLY: WRITE WHAT MATTERS
SHERRY COMAN – TRANSFORMATIONS: THE ART OF ADAPTATION
Let me tell you a little something about Wayson Choy. He’s a natural teacher/nurturer. He could read you his grocery list and you would come away filled with new knowledge, beautifully given. He’s a tremendous soul who shares everything he has. No holds barred. When he is in a room, he is 100% present…and it shows. I’m registered for Wayson’s Master Class. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.
Friday Evening will once again be a time for celebration! The FESTIVAL OF AUTHORS is always an exciting element of the conference. It’s the let-your-hair-down party that comes after the intensive Master Classes of Friday and before the full day of workshops on Saturday. Every year the organizing committee rounds up an impressive list of readers from the literati well and has them read from their latest offering. Always a great time to be had by all!
Facilitators on hand this year for Saturday’s workshops and plenary session are: Allyson Latta, Anne MacLachlan, Annette McLeod, Andrew Borkowski, Brett Savory, Allison Baggio, Sam Hiyate, Shannon Moroney, Gwynn Scheltema, Erin Bow, Rich Helms, Priscila Uppal, Jodi White, and, Christina Potter.
There will also be Blue Pencil Mentors and Literary Agents on hand to give Practice Pitches and Manuscript Mentoring. For a full description of these value added features to the conference, and a full mentor list, CLICK HERE.
The lunch speaker and closing speaker have yet to be announced, but you can rest assured that they will be fantastic. They always are. If you haven’t registered yet, I honestly don’t know what’s stopping you. This is the year. The time is now. Give yourself this gift. You deserve to enrich your passion!
See you there!
KEVIN CRAIG 