Exciting Lineup for 2018 Conference

By Don Vaughan, Conference Director

It’s hard to believe that the first Write Now! conference took place way back in 2008. Since then, TAF’s annual spring writing symposium has become a truly special event that local and regional writers look forward to each year.

Write Now! 2018 will take place on Saturday, April 28 at The McKimmon Center on Gorman Street in Raleigh, and we promise a conference you’ll long remember. Our fiction guest of honor will be award-winning short-story writer Megan Mayhew Bergman, a Raleigh native who now teaches at Bennington College. In addition to presenting the opening keynote, Megan will be offering a fun craft session on how to write and sell personal essays. Best of all, Megan will be available throughout the day to answer craft questions and help guide you on your way to fiction success.

If creative nonfiction is more your thing, you’ll enjoy our nonfiction guest of honor, National Magazine Award-winning journalist Mike Sager. A contributing editor with Esquire Magazine, Mike has written for Playboy, GQ, Rolling Stone, Smithsonian and numerous other top-tier publications, and has published several well-received nonfiction books. Mike will be presenting the concluding keynote, as well as a craft session titled 51 Ways to Improve Your Writing, and also will be available throughout the day to discuss craft and anything else that’s on your mind.

Of course, that’s not all. Far from it. Concurrent sessions will include Character Development in Short Fiction (John Kessel), Building a Better Article (Donald Vaughan), Children’s Writing 101 (John Claude Bemis), An Insider’s Advice on Landing an Agent (Lisa Hagan), Seven Keys to Creating a Profitable Online Brand (Tivi Jones), and more.

In an effort to keep Write Now! affordable for all, early registration is just $89; $75 for students with ID, seniors 65+ and active duty/retired military. You’ll want to take advantage of this special price because admission at the door will be $109. Registration includes all conference activities, catered box lunch, and door prizes. TAF members receive discounted admission to this event.

We’ll be opening registration around the first of February. Please bookmark the conference page of this site for more information as it becomes available.