The Kachemak Bay Writers' Conference is headed into its sixteenth year this weekend. The gathering of writers and readers from around the state and country is aimed at creating community within a solitary art form.
Writers and literary fans can participate in five days of workshops, panels and public readings. Conference organizer and Kachemak Bay Campus Director Carol Swartz said the conference continues to garner its reputation.
“This is a premier gathering, a very unique gathering in that it brings both readers and writers of literature together to discuss all sorts of aspects of literature and the increasing roll that creative writing plays in our world today,” Swartz said of the growing timeliness of the conference.
The gathering is designed around socializing, not moving from one panel discussion to the next. Swartz explains the formula provides more than participants came for, and the conference’s attendance reflects its success. About half of attendees are have participated in years past.
“This conference attracts people from all over the country. Fifteen percent of the registrants this year are from the Lower 48, half are from the Anchorage area and the rest of the state is well represented,” Swartz explained.
The conference isn’t just a sounding board for writers. Those looking to break into the publishing world with their next book can get idea of how to launch their career.
“Every year we have an agent and editor that comes, different each year, to meet with people,” Swartz said, “or just to do a panel discussion and review what’s happening in the business of writing and what’s happening in the publishing world. It’s changing as everyone anticipates here.”
Luck has struck at the conference before. Palmer-based writer Eowyn Ivey was noticed by an agent at the 2008 conference and went on to publish her Pulitzer-nominated book, “The Snow Child.”
For attendees this year, panels and workshops are geared towards writers of all styles, from poetry to fiction and nonfiction. Pulitzer winner Jane Smiley will serve as this year’s keynote speaker. Smiley is most known for her book, “A Thousand Acres.”
The public can catch Smiley at the Mariner Theater Saturday evening for a reading. Several writers will also be reading their work Sunday and Monday. Alaska’s own poet laureate Tom Sexton will give closing remarks on June 13. Full schedule here.