Another great year for the GLVWG Write Stuff Conference™ last March, hosted by the Greater Lehigh Valley Writers Group. Resident professional photographer, Joan Zachary, shared some her best photos of the event.
Thursday’s session, attendees arrived early to stake their places for Ben Wolf’s full day, advanced study of speculative fiction.
Conference Chair, Dawn Sooy, made sure everyone had a chance to purchase the conference commemorative coffee cup — “I Are A Writer”.
Conference Chairperson – Dawn Sooy
Bart Palamaro facilitated “Writers Cafe” Thursday evening, where participants read the first 200 words of a story and get instant feedback. Ben Wolf’s co-presenter, Charis Crowe, joined the group with constructive critiques.
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On Friday, Ben Wolf and Charis Crowe teamed up to present “The Three Pillars of Storytelling”.
Jean Ippolito conducted the afternoon session with “Book to Market – Tips to Package, Promote, and Publish Your Book”.
Janeen Ippolito
A conference tradition, three breakout rooms were set aside on Friday evening for the annual “Page Cuts Critique Sessions”. Participants who signed up in advance, had short pieces of their work read aloud by a moderator, then critiqued by industry professionals composed of conference presenters and agents.
Concurrent to Page Cuts, Charis Crowe held a special evening session discussing the Pixar Method in storytelling.
The evening ended with a group social gathering where participants, presenters, and agents rubbed elbows over cocktails and canapes.
Capping the night off, GLVWG’s resident “Mark Twain”, Charles Kiernan, was presented with a Samuel Clemons doll.
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Saturday was the busiest, with eight presenters, over twenty sessions, and still have time for an agent panel to discuss recent industry trends.
Saturday’s Keynote Speaker — Ben Wolf, offered his personal experience with “Writing Through Adversity”.
Ben Wolf – Keynote Speaker
Throughout the day, entries for the Flash Literature contest for Poetry, Fiction, and Non-Fiction, were displayed on poster boards during program breaks. Each conferee had three different colored vote cards for each category. Flash Literature Coordinator, Bernadette Sukley, awarded first, second, and third prizes to the winning entries.
Bernadette Sukley – Flash Literature Coordinator
Note: Watch this blog site for the winning entries in the next couple of weeks.
When the conference concluded, GLVWG opened its bookfair, where participants could purchase books.
Bookfair
And finally, hats off to Dawn Sooy, who has chaired the conference committee for the last two years. Her dedicated service to the often teeth-gnashing job of organizing the event has elevated the Write Stuff Conference to the hallmark it is today.
Dawn Sooy – Conference Chairperson
Conference Committee Members
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Our thanks to Joan Zachary for providing the conference photographs.
Greater Lehigh Valley Writers Group 