Writers conferences show the love, virtual or not

Will writers let a pandemic stand in their way? No way! Although many 2021 literary conferences are still treading water, sometimes pushing their events late into fall to allow in-person attendance, others brave the virtual waters. I’m presenting a selection of these – with emphasis on my own North Texas area – as well as tantalizing bits from further afield. Because, in the virtual world there are no boundaries. All times are in Central Time unless otherwise noted.

Now – March 13: The San Miguel Writers’ Conference continues a virtual season on Zoom. Still to come – Diana Gabaldon (Outlander series) February 13 at 6 p.m., Simon Winchester (The Professor and the Madman) March 7 at 6 p.m., and Jorge F. Hernandez and Margo Glantz on the Mexican tradition in literature March 13 at 6 p.m., more. Monthly passes $125, individual events generally $25. See the site for details and to register.

February 25: The Highland Park Literary Festival presents New York Times bestseller and multiple award-winning author Téa Obreht as keynote speaker at 7p.m. The event is free and open to the public but viewers must register. Obreht became the youngest recipient of the Orange Prize for Fiction in 2011 for her debut novel, The Tiger’s Wife. In 2019, Barack Obama named her second novel, Inland, as one of his favorite books of the year, unfolding in the drought-ridden Arizona Territory in 1893 and recreating the myth of the American West. To buy Obreht’s books and help support the HP LitFest, please visit the Interabang Books LitFest page.

March 5-6: North Texas Teen Book Festival 2021 now coming to you on YouTube! More details to come, but at this point, more than 80 middle grade and young adult authors, graphic novelists and YouTube celebrities are scheduled to appear. These include John Green (Fault in Our Stars), Taina Telgemeier (Guts), Ransom Riggs (Miss Peregrine series) and of course, more! Keynote speakers include Chelsea Clinton and Newbery Medal winner Katherine Applegate. Free. I’ll post more as information becomes available.

Image: Pixabay

June 21-27: Historical Novel Society North America’s 2021 conference will be virtual. Early-bird registration opens February 15-March, at $219 for HNS members, $249 for nonmembers. This year’s guest of honor is Lisa See (Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, and more), with special presenters Libbie Hawker and Jane Friedman and master classes with Hawker, Friedman, Alma Katsu, Gillian Bagwell, Melissa Danaczko and Cate Harte.

June 28-July 10:  Thrillerfest XVI. Registration for this virtual conference is open although the website is still a little wonky. Options include master class ($399), consulting ($75) and pitching ($50) sessions and more, including a free “Best First Sentence Contest.” Deadline for registration by mail as well as entries for the Best First Sentence Contest is June 15. 

***

Meanwhile, some conferences normally scheduled for early summer have pushed their dates into late summer and fall in hopes of once again operating in-person. These include the DFW Writers Workshop Conference and the Writers’ League of Texas conference.

August 25-29:  Bouchercon, the world mystery conference, plans to hold its 2021 conference in-person in New Orleans. Registration is $195, with hotel registrations also available. See the site for schedules and guests of honor.

September 17-19: The Writers’ League of Texas conference in Austin is now scheduled for September 17-19. I will update as more information becomes available.

September 17-19: These are also the dates of FenCon, the Dallas-area science fiction/fantasy convention. More information to come.

October: The DFW Writers Workshop conference, as I learned at a recent meeting for members, is scheduled, probably for mid-October, although the conference website still shows the June 2021 dates originally posted with the 2020 conference was cancelled. Again, more information to come.

What’s still up in the air? Writefest in Houston, normally a week-long, late spring event, hopes to go in-person in the fall, but no dates are available as of this posting.

I don’t have any information about the fate of WORDfest, usually held in March. In 2020, this big-tent 'all-you-can-meet' literary event brought over 20 North Texas writers’ organizations and more than 300 writers together virtually last August. Still waiting to see if it will happen again.

Six months of literary conference at our fingertips

 I’ve posted before about the San Miguel de Allende Writers’ Conference, typically held each February in the lovely Mexican World Heritage City. I’ve attended, it’s marvelous – and now it’s virtual, and starting next month. I don’t usually devote an entire post to a literary conference before it even begins but consider this a homage not only to the San Miguel event, but to the imagination and ingenuity such events are increasingly demonstrating in the face of adversity.

 Here’s what is the most special about the SMA conference: It runs not for a weekend, not for a week but for six months! Yes, during one week, every month from October 2020 through March 2021, subscribers will be treated to a buffet of events – two keynote speakers, two purely literary events such as live poetry and storytelling, and four writing workshops (with the option of individual consultations with the instructors.

 

Joseph Boyden

October’s lineup includes keynote speakers Margaret Atwood, best known for her novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, and Joseph Boyden, who writes about the First Nations people of Northern Ontario. Oh, and feel free to submit questions for them during the live-streamed Q&A sessions to follow.

 

Also, in October, workshops with Angie Abdou (life story), Annie Tucker (all fiction), April Eberhardt (publishing and marketing), and David Corbett (fiction). Plus, a late night of fusion poetry and a life story/fiction panel on choosing the best way to tell our stories.

 

And so on, though the following months, with the likes of presidential inaugural poet Richard Blanco, the youngest, first Latino, immigrant, and gay person to serve in such a role; Yuri Herrera, whose novel has been described as an entrance to “the golden gate of Mexican literature” (in Spanish with English subtitles); Diana Gabaldon, known for her Outlander series of novels; and New York Times bestselling author Simon Winchester. And on and on.

 

Cost of a season pass for writers, which includes all 12 keynote speakers, six in-depth workshops for writers, seven special literary events, and six late night literary events is $795 (what we might pay for a single-week – or weekend – literary conference). A season pass for readers, which includes everything except the writing workshops, is $435. And a month pass (two keynote speakers, one writing workshop, one special literary event and one late night event) is $125.

 

Tickets are also available for single events – typically $25 for keynote speakers, $15 for special literary and late-night events, and $70 for writing workshops. Please note that the writing workshops have limited seating and are likely to fill up quickly.

 

This early, several of the December events, as well as one of the keynote speakers each for January and February are still to be determined. Some of the keynote speakers and literary events beside Yuri Herrera’s will also be offered in Spanish with English subtitles. Check the site 

Margaret Atwood

for details and to register.

By the way, the times listed as "Mexican time" are for the North American Central Time Zone. Most parts of Mexico (including San Miguel de Allende) change from daylight saving time to standard time on October 25, 2020, and from standard time back to daylight saving April 4, 2021. Check the World Time Zone site for time conversions. 

***

 All of this leaves me wondering – why can’t we still have events this marvelous, and relatively inexpensive, even after the current pandemic wanes? I’ve already mentioned the possibility of being able to pitch literary agents in a virtual setting. And most of us have become used to online classrooms. Why not offer even more virtual options? What other unique formats are out there, still to be exploited by our human ingenuity?

 

Having more virtual literary events – either stand-alones or as accompaniments to in-person ones – would seem to benefit everyone. How about virtual book signings? Tune in, listen to your favorite author read, take questions – your questions – in real time, and sign a personalized copy of the book you’ve just bought online?

 

When can we expect hands-on, virtual reality presentations of skill such as those presented at the North Texas Writers in the Field, cancelled, alas, this year due to the pandemic?

 

And why can’t we consider all of these as incentives to bring internet connectivity to those who most need it?  

 

I would never expect virtual events to crowd out in-person events. There’s nothing quite like the hot, breathing, electric presence of a crowd; the in-person schmoozing; or the late-night bar hopping with your favorite agent or author at a live conference. But just as we’ve learned to appreciate filmed dramas and recorded music as artistic venues without eliminating their live counterparts, there’s room for something similar with virtual events. We can all raise a glass to that future!