The Sanibel Island Writers Conference is Nov. 8-9, 2024, on the Florida Gulf Coast University campus.
Registration opens soon. Attendance will be free and open to anyone interested in learning about the craft of writing from some of the best writers and teachers around, including Kyle Arrington, Lynne Barrett, Denise Duhamel, John Dufresne, MJ Fievre, Andrea Askowitz & Allison Langer, and keynote speaker Steve Almond.
"I had the pleasure of being a teacher/reader/panelist at this year's Sanibel Island Writers Conference. I've been to a great deal of such conferences, but never have I been one that was so beautifully organized, well-rounded, rigorous yet fun, and, best of all, attended by such high caliber participants. From the college-aged kid to the retiree, my ‘students’ were unfailingly impressive as both writers and readers."
-Heidi Julavits
Best-selling author and founder of The Believer magazine
"I am beginning to view my life through new eyes. It would not be an exaggeration to say that I feel like I have been given my sight back--in a manner of speaking. I suppose I should end before I start crying all over my keyboard, but I just wanted to let you know what a privilege it has been taking part in this conference, and I look forward to participating in future conferences."
-student
"I benefited so much from the knowledge I acquired at this conference. I feel empowered to be a better writer. It has increased my confidence in my own writing."
-student
Sponsors, Partners, and Acknowledgments
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Especially huge shout outs & bottomless gratitude to:
Toggle More Info- President Asyegul Timur
- Provost Mark Rieger
- Former President Michael V. Martin
- Former Provost James Llorens
- Former President Wilson G. Bradshaw & Joanna Bradshaw
- Former Provost Ronald Toll & Kathy Toll
- CAS Dean Clay Motley
- Department of Language & Literature Chair
- Dr. Kimberly Jackson
- Kelly Davis
- Lori & John Cornelius
- Department of Language & Literature
- Former Dean Donna Henry
- The FGCU Foundation
- Dr. Jim Wohlpart and his wife Sasha Wohlpart
- Donna Stremke
- Meghan Hian
- Kay Hubbard
- Town & Gown Association
- The Center for Environment and Society
- Community Relations and Marketing
- Jeff Weigel and the Sanibel Deli
- Amy Shearer Costello and everyone at Point Ybel Brewing Company
- Chef Karl Hamme and the Sanibel Catering Company
- Dr. Charles (billY) Gunnels and everyone at FGCU Scholars
- Lee Ellen, Marina, Chris, and everyone at BIG ARTS
- Jeff Cull, Nancy Stetson, and everyone at Florida Weekly
- Nancy McPhee and everyone at the Lee County Visitors and Convention Bureau and MMGY Global
- Darina Nikolov
- Office of Research and Graduate Studies
- FGCU's Creative Writing Club, members past & present, particularly founding officers Amy Ortolano, Andrew Schmid, Ally Wickman, and Kaleena Deland-Zepeda. Special shout-out to Makeda Amadi, Andrea McCrary, Michael Grissom, Courtney Spencer, and Shannon Crandall.
- Kevin Toler at Tolervision
- Lourdes Méndez Germain
- Susanna Wohlpart
- Dr. Tunde Szecsi
- Dr. Lois Christensen
- Dr. Marcia Greene
- Cindy Chinelly
- Dan Morgan
- The Everham's
- Mary Lou Hess and the Florida Writers Association
- Philip Heubeck
- Lauren Baker
- Pavol Roskovensky
- Benjamin Shea Lindner
- Andrew Morris
- Joseph Kakareka
- Gulf Coast Writers Association
- The West Wind Inn
- Sundial Resort
- Sanibel Resort
- Alison Granucci and everyone at Blue Flower Arts
- The Sanibel Island Public Library
- The ground team of volunteers
- William, Kathleen, and Michael DeMarchi
- Kay Tolchin
- Charlie DeMarchi
- Andrea DeMarchi
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To authors/workshop leaders/editors/agents for writing so many words worth reading:
Toggle More Info- Erin Almond
- Steve Almond
- Jonathan Ames
- Laura Apperson
- Kyle Arrington
- MK Asante
- Andrea Askowitz
- Julianna Baggott
- Lynne Barrett
- Jordan Bass
- Ishmael Beah
- Sandra Beasley
- Jenny Bent
- Dan Bern
- Jill Bialosky
- Emily Black
- Emily Franklin
- Tom Franklin
- Lisa Gallagher
- Roxane Gay
- Robert Gelinas
- William Giraldi
- Tod Goldberg
- Taylor Goldsmith
- Ben Greenman
- William Greenway
- Kimberly Lojewski
- Gary Louris
- Mary Beth Lundgren
- Molly Lyons
- Nick Marino
- Joyce Maynard
- Campbell McGrath
- Ron MacLean
- Tom McAllister
- Jen McClung
- Neal Pollack
- Mark Powell
- Bobbie Pyron
- Margo Rabb
- Nahid Rachlin
- Deborah Reed
- Michelle Richmond
- Ryan Rivas
- Rob Roberge
- Henry Rollins
- Nina Romano
- Kathleen Rooney
- Robert Root
- Jane Roper
- Michael Ruhlman
- Richard Blanco
- Jenna Blum
- Charles Bock
- Lisa Borders
- John Brandon
- Eve Bridburg
- Stanley Brinks
- Jim Brock
- Derrick C. Brown
- Mahogany L. Browne
- Nickole Brown
- Christine Buckley
- Don Bullens
- Augusten Burroughs
- Robert Olen Butler
- Bonnie Jo Campbell
- Kevin Canty
- Stephanie Elizondo Griest
- Jim Gustafson
- Barbara Hamby
- Artis Henderson
- Sue Henshon
- Kristin Hersh
- Michael Hettich
- Carl Hiaasen
- Nathan Hill
- Shane Hinton
- Karen McElmurray
- John McNally
- Susannah Meadows
- Joe Meno
- Kathryn Miles
- Joseph Millar
- Rhett Miller
- Jesse Millner
- Lyn Millner
- CD Mitchell
- Richard Russo
- John K. Samson
- John Sayles
- Julia Scheeres
- Christopher Schelling
- John Schimmel
- Mark Evan Schwartz
- Danielle Sellers
- Jennifer Senior
- Jim Shepard
- Karen Shepard
- Abby Sher
- George Singleton
- Lauren Small
- Christine Sneed
- Laurel Snyder
- Nick Carbo
- Margaret Cardillo
- Ron Carlson
- Christopher Castellani
- Tom Chiarella
- Alicia Lynn Clancy
- Kevin Clark
- Brock Clarke
- Joe Clifford
- Camille Cline
- Sloane Crosley
- Eugene Cross
- Ron Currie Jr.
- Jim Daniels
- Edwidge Danticat
- John Darnielle
- Alice Hoffman
- Ann Hood
- Jay Hopler
- John Hoppenthaler
- Karl Iagnemma
- Kristen Iversen
- Major Jackson
- Jessica Jacobs
- Leslie Jamison
- Honorée Fanonne Jeffers
- Kimberly Johnson
- Debra Monroe
- Dito Montiel
- Alastair Moock
- Dinty Moore
- Keith Lee Morris
- Leonard Nash
- Sena Jeter Naslund
- Jeff Newberry
- Annemarie Ni. Churreain
- Linda Oatman Hill
- Wesley Stace
- Michael Steinberg
- JL Stermer
- Megan Stielstra
- Parker Stockman
- Darin Strauss
- Thomas Swick
- Ann Kidd Taylor
- Johnny Temple
- Jeffrey Thomson
- Karen Tolchin
- Martin Tolchin
- Susan Tolchin
- Sarah Tomlinson
- Nicole Tourtelot
- Dean Davis
- Erica Dawson
- Larry Doyle
- Andre Dubus III
- John Dufresne
- Denise Duhamel
- Camille Dungy
- Carmen Edington
- Janice Eidus
- Stephen Elliott
- Wayne Falbey
- Beth Ann Fennelly
- MJ Fievre
- Craig Finn
- Nick Flynn
- Gina Frangello
- Christopher Joyce
- Heidi Julavits
- Sue Monk Kidd
- David Kirby
- Walter Kirn
- Keith Kopka
- Christina Baker Kline
- Dorianne Laux
- Allison Langer
- Jeanne Leiby
- Julia Livshin
- Tim O’Brien
- Robert Olmstead
- Jennifer Gill O'Neil
- Susan Orlean
- Alan Michael Parker
- Jeff Parker
- Tim Parrish
- Benjamin Percy
- Tom Piazza
- David James Poissant
- Emma Trelles
- Brian Turner
- Frank Turner
- Laura Valeri
- Ian Vasquez
- Judith Viorst
- Willy Vlautin
- Sidney Wade
- Dan Wakefield
- Alexis Washam
- Jay Wexler
- Liza Wieland
- Robert Wilder
- Tom Williams
- Steven Womack
- Tom Zoellner
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Thanks to everyone—colleagues & friends—who offered advice, donated time & money, volunteered, and helped promote the conference:
Toggle More Info- Hillary Kaufman
- Maria Roca
- Jonathan Rose & Laura McDermott (of Palm Beach Poetry Festival)
- Amy Towne
- Andrew Foley and everyone at Sarasota News & Books
- Don Selby & Diane Boller at Poetry Daily
- ShawGuides.com
- Hollie at the Sanibel Island Bookshop
- Laura Jensen and the whole staff at Follett
- Conan Griffin & Julie Hoffman, Cathy Chestnut
- Robert and Tracy Jones
- Tristan Dufresne
- Martha Rosenthal
- Debbie Lewis
- Susan Haley
- Bud & Lee Willis
- Phil Carter
- Matthew Jacobson
- Angel Taylor
- Morgan Souza
- Rachel Wise
- Rob Hiatt
- Phoebe Azran
- Ron Hefner
- Kristin Nail
- Amy Tardif
- Allison Dieppa
- John Bond
- Tanya Hochschild
- Kevin Aho
- Linda DiGloria
- Valerie Donovan
- Britta Schulze
- Mary & Sam Walch
- Linda Campbell
- Phil Thompson
- Chealsye Bowley
- Edward Livesay
- Dan Stanford
- Becky Donlan
- Karen Lynch
- Susan Holland
- Theresa Acker
- Etienne Wasson
- Audrea Anderson
- Kristen Vaughn
- Glenn Miller
- Sterling Watson
- Kelly McCarthy
- Joe Pacheco
- Marta Lee
- Christine Caya
- Karyn Everham
- Alejandro Oquendo
- Joe Higgins
- Julie Ann Howell
- Karen Sloan
- Sheila Bolduc-Simpson
Support the Sanibel Island Writers Conference
In the interface below, choose "Other," and enter "Sanibel Island Writers Conference" in the "Leave a comment" field.We Look Forward to Seeing You on Campus.
Tom DeMarchi and Jason Elek | Directors | tdemarch@fgcu.edu | jelek@fgcu.edu
