Relocated to a New Town? Attend Local Conferences and Workshop

By Regina Allen

Recently, I relocated to a new town and state to start a new career. Because of this, my writing routine was temporarily disrupted as well as attending conferences and retreats. Until I accrue vacation time at my new job, attending conferences this summer is out of the question. However, I recently discovered that by using the local newspapers, libraries and the new job, there are local conferences and workshops I can attend. This keeps me in the loop with the writing community and introduces me to the local authors. 

Newspapers. Pick up Sunday paper in your new town. Look for its Life & Events section and search for a listing of lectures, seminars and readings. Most lectures and readings are held by local authors, some by famous authors traveling cross-country. Make it a point to attend one. If you’re the assertive type, talk to the author and find out if there are any local retreats or conferences in the area. Who knows, the author may refer you to a workshop he/she regularly attends. Not only would you be introduced to local authors but your knowledge of the area will increase because you’ll explore your new surroundings and this may produce ideas for future stories. 

Libraries. Libraries have always and will be a writer’s best friend. If you don’t do it now, get into the habit of picking up flyers. Local writers’ groups will have flyers when they’ll hold their next meeting. For example, I now live in Clifton Park. At the Clifton Park Library are numerous flyers for mystery writers and a schedule for author readings. Though not a mystery writer, I’ve met someone who writes mystery yet has a strong interest in horror and fantasy. This person knows several well-known authors in those fields and told me the conferences they attend. I was unaware of several local conferences and have made it a point to attend one later this year. 

Your Job.  Guess what? There are writers at your new job. As you get acquainted with the company policies, rules, etc., you’ll get to know your co-workers and make new friends. One of those friends will either be a writer or know a writer working at the company. Get connected. Your co-worker can be a wealth of information regarding local conferences, retreats and workshops. Even if your co-worker doesn’t write in your genre, the conversations you’ll hold with your co-worker are invaluable pieces of information you’ll need as you learn the ropes of your new job and your new town. 

It’ll take awhile to adjust to my new surroundings and career. In the meantime, I’m going to look in the Sunday paper for a list of lectures and seminars, and gather information for the local conference that’ll take place real soon.

Enjoy the summer!

Regina is a fiction writer who now lives in New York. She is collaborating with author, Joel S. Ross (http://www.joelross.net) on a medical thriller.

For an extensive listing of conferences, workshops and retreats,
check magazines like The Writer, Asimov’s Science Fiction, Locus
Magazine, Poets & Writers and the June issue of Writer’s Digest.
For websites, Writer’s Digest:
(http://www.writersdigest.com/conferences)and

Shaw Guides
(http://writing.shawguides.com) have an exhaustive listing of
conferences and workshops.

 National  

Centrum Creative Residencies
 Residencies offered January through May; September through December,
 Port Townsend, Washington.
 Playwrights, musicians, visual artists, poets, fiction and creative
 nonfiction writers are eligible for residencies available from one
 week to one month.
 For the 2006 residency, send a resume, proposal and two copies up to
 eight pages of poetry, fiction or creative nonfiction with a $25
 application fee by July 15.
 For more information and for complete guidelines, contact: Centrum
 Creative Residencies, Post Office Box 1158, Port Townsend, WA
 98368-0958.
 Telephone: (360) 385-3102, Sally Rodgers, Coordinator
 Website: http://www.centrum.org
 Email: sally@centrum.org

 Willamette Writers Conference
 August 5-7, 2005
 Portland, Oregon
 Program includes workshops in many genres. For more information, contact,
 Willamette Writers Conference, 9045 SW Barbur Boulevard, Ste. 5A,
 Portland, OR 97219
 Telephone: (503) 452-1592
 Website: http://www.willamettewriters.com
 Email: wilwrite@willamettewriters.com

 Mendocino Coast Writers Conference
 August 11-13, 2005
 Programs include workshops, lecture sessions, readings, private
 consultations and more.
 For more information, contact: Suzanne Byerley, College of the
 Redwoods,
 1211 Del Mar Drive, Fort Bragg, CA 95437.
 Telephone: (440) 577-1215
 Website: http://www.mcwc.org
 Email: info@mcwc.org

 Coppercon 25
 September 9-11, 2005
 Embassy Suites Phoenix North, Phoenix, Arizona
 This is a genre convention, Guest of Honors Rober J. Sawyer and Greg Keyes
 Membership: $35 until 8/25/05, $40 at the door.
 For more information, contact: CopperCon 25, Box 62613, Phoenix, AZ
 85082
 Telephone: (480) 945-6890
 Website: http://www.coppercon.org
 Email: cu25@coppercon.org

 Fencon II
 September 23-25, 2005
 Holiday Inn Select North Dallas, Dallas, Texas
 A genre convention. Guest of Honor: S.M. Stirling. Special Guest: Mike Resnick
 For more information, contact: FenCon, Box 560576, The Colony, TX
 75056-0576
 Website: http://www.fencon.org
 Email: info@fencon.org

 Yaddo
 Residencies offered from late October to mid-May
 Saratoga Springs, New York.
 Offered to fiction and creative nonfiction writers, and poets,
 residencies may run from two weeks to two months.
 Submit a $20 application fee and three copies each of the following:
 a two-page resume; an application; and 10 short poems or an excerpt
 of prose, no longer than 30 pages. Submit by August 1. For more
 information, contact: Yaddo, Admissions, Post Office Box 395,
 Saratoga Springs, NY 12866
 Telephone: (518) 584-0746. Candace Wait, Program Director.
 Website: http://www.yaddo.org
 Email: chwait@yaddo.org

 International

 Canada’s Coolest Poetry Festival
 August 12-14, 2005
 Kingston, Ontario, Canada
 For more information, visit their website at:
 http://www.poetbureau.com
 or call (613) 378-2708.

 Fantasycon 2005
 September 30-October 3, 2005
 Quality Hotel, Bentley, Walsall, United Kingdom
 This is a genre convention. Guest of Honors: Mark Chadbourn and Simon Clark
 For more information, visit their website:
 http://www.britishfantasysociety.org.uk/fcon/
 Email: chair@britishfantasysociety.org.uk

 Eurocon 2006/Portal 2006
 April 13-16, 2006
 Kiev, Ukraine
 The 28th European Science Fiction Convention
 AgoH: Sergey Poyarkov. Special Guest: Ellen Datlow.
 For more information, visit their websites:
 http://www.interpotal.info and http://www.eurocon.kiev.ua
 Email: info@eurocon.kiev.ua