ABOUT THE SANIBEL ISLAND WRITERS CONFERENCE

Participants at all stages of development – from notebook scribblers to published novelists – are invited to attend a variety of three-day morning workshops in fiction, poetry, screenwriting, and creative nonfiction; afternoon panels on publishing, collaborative writing, and humor writing; and nightly readings – all presented by celebrated and experienced writers and teachers. For an additional fee, participants also have the opportunity to meet privately with a writer or editor to discuss (a maximum) 10 pages of a pre-submitted manuscript. The conference is open to any aspiring writer who wants to create new work or refine a project already in progress. We have 150 openings for the conference itself; however, space for individual manuscript consultations is very limited, so act fast! For more info about general registration and manuscript consultations, click on the "Register" link to the left.

The conference is being held from November 3-6, 2011, at BIGARTS & the Sanibel Public Library on Sanibel Island. With 26 miles of bike paths, world famous sunsets, and an average temperature of 74 degrees F., Sanibel Island is located on Florida 's Gulf Coast, just thirty minutes from Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers. Since the first settlers arrived in 1833, Sanibel has attracted such prestigious sightseers and residents as Theodore Roosevelt, Stephen King, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Dan Brown, Randy Wayne White, Thomas Edison (who once worked as a night watchman for Sanibel's International Telegraph Company), and Charles and Anne Lindbergh. During conference downtime, attendees are encouraged to bike, hike, and/or kayak through the J.N. "Ding" Darling Wildlife Refuge—6,400-acres of mangrove forest, seagrass beds, and cordgrass marshes, and home to over 220 species of birds—or to collect the over 400 varieties of seashells that can be found along Sanibel's 15 miles of public beaches.

Because classes will begin on the morning of Thursday the 3rd, we recommend that out-of-town attendees arrive on Wednesday the 2nd.

The cost is:

$300 for non-student registration if postmarked before July 31, 2011

$350 for non-student registration if postmarked after August 1, 2011

$280 for Big Arts members

$250 for students (with current ID)

$50 for optional individual manuscript consultation—10 pages maximum.

Refunds (less a $50 processing fee) are available until September 30, 2011.

Accommodations:  We've made arrangements with The West Wind Inn for group rates. For contact and special rate information, please click on the "Hotel and Travel" link to the left, and be sure to mention the conference when you call.

We hope you're as excited about the Sanibel Writers Conference as we are. We've done everything we can to bring in the best writers available for a variety of workshops, panels, and consultations. And we've tried very hard to keep the costs affordable, which is why we encourage you to register now, before the rates increase on August 1. If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to contact us. In the meantime, we hope to see you in November!

Sincerely,

Tom DeMarchi, Director

June 2011

Phone: (239) 590-7421

e-mail: tdemarch@fgcu.edu