Calling All Presenters

The Fifth Annual Steel Pen Creative Writers’ Conference will be held on October 27, 2018 at the conference center at Fair Oaks Farms, which is located just off I-65 near Rensselaer, Indiana.¹ We already have an outstanding keynote speaker, but now the Conference Committee is looking for session presenters to further enhance the conference experience.²

This full-day conference provides educational opportunities for creative writers through a variety of workshops, panels, and lectures covering fiction, creative nonfiction, and the business of writing. If you are interested in presenting, we would love to read your proposal. Just complete the official proposal application and return it by March 31, 2018. If you have not already received the form, email steelpenconference@gmail.com and ask for a copy.

Please note that there is no honorarium and presenters are responsible for arranging and paying for their own travel and accommodations. Presenters must also pay a discounted registration fee of $35. However, this is an opportunity to mentor other writers, hone your teaching skills, network, and learn from other experienced writers while providing a valuable service to the writing community.

When preparing a proposal, please keep the following in mind:

·       Sessions will probably last about one hour. The actual schedule has not been set and session lengths may change slightly.

·       The conference is aimed at creative writers, and all proposals should provide value for them. For example, a proposal by a visual artist could cover the relationship between author and illustrator, and a proposal by a professional speaker could address the selling opportunities provided by speaking engagements at schools and libraries.

·       All presentations, including lectures, should provide opportunity for interaction.

Additional information about the conference will be posted at www.inwriters.org/steel-pen-conference as it becomes available.

Please share this post with anyone who might be interested in submitting a proposal.

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¹ Steel Pen is Indiana Writers’ Consortium’s annual conference. IWC inspires and builds a community of creative writers. It was incorporated in 2008 as an Indiana nonprofit organization and is a public charity under section 501(c)(3) of the United States Internal Revenue Code.

² This year’s keynote speaker is Michael Poore, who is the author of the humorous novels Reincarnation Blues (Del Rey, 2017) and Up Jumps the Devil (Ecco, 2012). His short work has appeared in Agni, Southern Review, Fiction, and Glimmer Train, and in anthologies, including The Year’s Best Science Fiction and The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2012.