About the 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 6-9 at BIGARTS 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 the 6th, we recommend that out-of-town attendees
arrive on Wednesday the 5th.

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 October!

Sincerely,
Tom DeMarchi, Director

Phone: (239) 590-7421
Fax: (239) 590-7445
e-mail: tdemarch@fgcu.edu