2018 Conference Schedule
Take your writing to the next level.
The 2018 Creative Nonfiction Writers’ Conference offers almost twenty distinct 75-minute sessions led by professional journalists, authors, editors, and down-to-earth teachers. Wherever you are in your writing project or career, there are sessions that can help you learn new skills, think about challenges in a new way, re-energize your craft, and tell your story, better.
Customize your schedule, meet one-on-one with an agent, and/or have your manuscript reviewed by one of our professional writing instructors, while spending two+ days surrounded by 150+ other highly motivated memoirists, lyrical essayists, longform journalists, and others.
See the full schedule for:
Thursday | Friday | Saturday
Thursday, May 24th
5:30 pm
CHECK-IN
6:15 pm
OPENING REMARKS
6:30 pm
KEYNOTE PRESENTATION
The Power of Story
Why creative nonfiction matters now more than ever
LEE GUTKIND
8 pm
RECEPTION
Meet & Greet Mixer (& Reading)
Enjoy light fare & cocktails and mingle with other conference attendees.
Friday, May 25th
8 am
CHECK-IN & BREAKFAST
9:15 am
MORNING SESSION #1
Foundations of Creative Nonfiction
ANJALI SACHDEVA
-or-
Learning Longform
STEVEN KURUTZ
10:45 am
MORNING SESSION #2
Finding Your Voice
MIKE ROSENWALD
-or-
Science & Narrative
VIRGINIA MORELL
12 pm
LUNCH BREAK
1:30 pm
AFTERNOON SESSION #1
Character Development
CHRIS GIRMAN
-or-
The Lyric Essay
DAISY HERNÁNDEZ
-or-
Writing for Online & Digital Outlets
JENN BAKER
2:45 pm
COFFEE BREAK & NETWORKING
3:15 pm
AFTERNOON SESSION #2
Building Scenes
MEGHAN O'GIEBLYN
-or-
Book Proposals
LESLIE MEREDITH
4:45 pm
AFTERNOON SESSION #3
Beyond the "Me" in Memoir
LISE FUNDERBURG
-or-
Perfect Your Pitch
HEATHER BOERNER
6:30 pm
RECEPTION
Party in the Park
A literary cocktail hour.
Saturday, May 26th
8 am
CHECK-IN & BREAKFAST
9:15 am
MORNING SESSION #1
Flash Nonfiction
DINTY W. MOORE
-or-
Interviewing
ANDREW CONTE
-or-
Writing the Tough Stuff
JESSICA HANDLER
10:45 am
MORNING SESSION #2
The Ethical Boundaries
PETER TRACHTENBERG
-or-
Experimental Forms
BARRETT SWANSON
-or-
Transforming Essays into a Book
PATRICE GOPO
12 pm
LUNCH BREAK
1:30 pm
AFTERNOON SESSION #1
Literary Magazines 101
BECKY TUCH
-or-
Fact-checking
ROBYN COGGINS & CHAD VOGLER
2:45 pm
COFFEE BREAK & NETWORKING
3:15 pm
AFTERNOON SESSION #2
Working with an Editor
HATTIE FLETCHER
-or-
Platform Building & Self-promotion
STEPHEN KNEZOVICH & AADAM SOORMA
-or-
Using History & Research to Tell a Better Story
BRYANT SIMON
4:45 pm
FAREWELL
Advice & Inspiration
Presenters from CNFWC18 close with uplifting messages and their best advice for writers
Conference Home | Register | Schedule | Presenters | FAQs
Hotel & Travel Accommodations | Venue | Praise for Past Conferences
Questions? Contact our Events Manager, Hannah Waltz, at [email protected].
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