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Thank you to all who attended our 2023 conference! We hope you will make plans to join us for the Nineteenth Annual Clarksville Writers Conference, scheduled for June 5 - 7, 2024.
Below is information from last year's conference. Please stay tuned to our website and social media for updates about our exciting lineup in 2024. In the meantime, we invite you to take part in our Clarksville Writers Contest.
Thursday, June 8, 2023
CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS / WORKSHOPS
Austin Peay State University's Art + Design Building
601 College Street, Clarksville
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8:30am - 9:00am
REGISTRATION / CHECK-IN
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9:00am - 10:15am
PLENARY SESSION
RM A - "The Gift of Community"
In this introductory panel discussion, we are going to contemplate the notion of COMMUNITY. We will define, dissect, and stretch the word until we have made it our own.
- Cynthia Marsh (moderator): A Broader Definition of Community — The Gift of INCLUSION
- Ellen Kanervo: The Past & Promise of Community — The Gift of REPRESENTATION
- Rick Gregory: The Untold Secrets of Community — The Gift of DISCOVERY
- Amy Wright: The Muscle of a Creative Community — The Gift of WONDER
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10:30am - 11:45am
PRESENTATIONS/WORKSHOPS
RM A - Robert Gwaltney "Building Courage to Write Your Story"
Southern novelist Robert Gwaltney will discuss the courageous moments that writers must take in order to write their story. Such moments include speaking in your unique voice, joining a literary community, and overcoming imposter syndrome. He will read excerpts from his debut novel, The Cicada Tree, to illustrate his personal moments of courage.
RM B - Mary Martha Greene "Food, Family and Stories: How to Preserve your Family Stories and Recipes for Future Generations"
Pat Conroy said, "A recipe is a story that ends in a good meal." Mary Martha Greene, author of The Cheese Biscuit Queen Tells All, will carry you through a journey to preserve your precious family recipes and stories to hand down for generations to come — and just maybe publish in a cookbook. This session will include how to capture family stories — the happy, the sad, the good and the bad — and practical tips for writing and quantifying family recipes. AND there just might be some cheese biscuits on hand to taste her family's favorite recipe.
RM C - Shana Thornton "Packaging Your Book for Publication: A Self-Publishing Checklist"
I'll share my checklist for getting a book ready to publish yourself, whether that's a personal book for your family or a collection of poetry that you want to release to the public. I will discuss some of the similarities and differences in using Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing, Ingram Spark, and other platforms.
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NOON - 1:00pm
LUNCH
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1:15pm - 2:30pm
PRESENTATIONS/WORKSHOPS
RM A - Susan Beckham Zurenda "Evoking Emotion in Your Characters"
This workshop will cover both the basics of story and the importance of genuine emotion in stories. It will concentrate on how writers achieve success in creating human emotion in contrast to why writers sometimes fail in this essential endeavor. Ample illustrations will be provided, some from the Susan's novel, Bells for Eli, and participants will be given writing prompts with feedback.
RM B - Cynthia Marsh "Form Follows Content"
How does the form of a book (magazine, pamphlet, letter, e-reader) affect the way we approach written content held within the packaging? In this session, we will discuss ways in which our visual and tactile sensibilities can be paired with shared episodic memories to create reading structures that support the written content.
RM C - Amy Wright "Meaning to Heal — Setting Intentions & Boundaries to Protect Yourself and Others"
Writing is more than a beauty tool. By naming, shaping and reframing our stories, we alter perspectives and often change lives. To make meaning empowers us to understand loneliness, purge anxiety, and process trauma — joining us to a lineage of creatives aligned by a different kind of ambition. When we authorize ourselves to make meaning from collective and personal histories, we claim our right to heal. (Participants may attend one or both sessions of this two-part workshop.)
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2:45pm - 4:00pm
PRESENTATIONS/WORKSHOPS
RM A - Sharon Mabry "Tips for Writers: Imagine, Observe, and Organize"
In this session, Sharon Mabry talks about differences in writing non-fiction versus fiction, knowing who you are, developing a good routine, how you can do one thing while doing another, and how it's all about timing and pacing.
RM B - Laurina Isabella Lyle "Writing Illustrated, Interactive Books for Children"
We will explore the ingredients you need to write and produce books for children. Using her example of her book, A Child's First Bird Guide, she will step you through the process of writing your own book.
RM C - Amy Wright "Meaning to Heal — Feeling Your Way into a New Story"
Writing is more than a beauty tool. By naming, shaping and reframing our stories, we alter perspectives and often change lives. To make meaning empowers us to understand loneliness, purge anxiety, and process trauma — joining us to a lineage of creatives aligned by a different kind of ambition. When we authorize ourselves to make meaning from collective and personal histories, we claim our right to heal. (Participants may attend one or both sessions of this two-part workshop.)
Thursday, June 8, 2023
MASTER PROSE CLASS
Austin Peay State University's Art + Design Building
601 College Street, Clarksville
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9:00am - 4:00pm
RM D - Master Prose Class with Bren McClain
 "What is working? Do more of that!"
Join critically acclaimed author Bren McClain's highly interactive Master Prose Class, designed to take your novel or short story or memoir to the next level. Bren's goal for each one of you is to leave even more pumped and eager to get back to the page. This day-long session will follow a workshop format, where you will receive feedback on your work. (You will submit ahead of time up to 2,500 words to the entire group, who will answer some guided questions to help identify what each person really likes about what you're doing.) We'll spend our morning with the feedback and the afternoon doing some revising or writing new words.
Bren will select 12 writers to join her for this master class from 9:00am to 4:00pm on Thursday, June 8. (Lunch is included.) Selection is competitive and open to writers of prose: fiction or nonfiction (no poetry).
The submission deadline has passed. Thank you to all who submitted manuscripts. Notifications will be sent by May 10.
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Thursday, June 8, 2023
CONFERENCE BANQUET
F&M Bank's The Franklin Room
50 Franklin Street, Clarksville
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5:30pm - 6:00pm
"MEET THE AUTHORS" RECEPTION AND BOOK SIGNING
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6:00pm
DINNER AND KEYNOTE SPEECH
David George Haskell "Sounds Wild and Broken: The Marvels of Natural Sound"
We live surrounded by marvels of sonic diversity, from the songs of birds and insects, to the complexity of human music and speech. Using examples from his book Sounds Wild and Broken, Haskell will show how this diversity came to be and how we can be better listeners.
Friday, June 9, 2023
CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS / WORKSHOPS
Austin Peay State University's Art + Design Building
601 College Street, Clarksville
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8:30am - 9:00am
REGISTRATION / CHECK-IN
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9:00am - 10:15am
PLENARY SESSION
RM A - "The Gift of Writing in Community Continues"
We will hold COMMUNITY within our gaze to understand how different written forms offer different ways to reach audiences. Each panelist brings a unique perspective to the topic.
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10:30am - 11:45am
PRESENTATIONS/WORKSHOPS
RM A - Rick Gregory "The Bell Witch Legend: In Memory and Myth"
The Bell Witch in Myth and Memory ultimately explores what people believe and why they believe what they cannot explicitly prove — and, more particularly, why for two hundred years so many have sworn by the reality of the Bell Witch. In this highly engaging study, Rick Gregory not only sheds light on Tennessee's vibrant oral history tradition but also provides insight into the enduring, worldwide phenomenon that is folklore.
RM B - Bren McClain "Are You Open for Business?"
A friend recently said to me, after I'd told her I'd booked my 200th book club, "Bren, the universe knows you're open for business." Wow, I thought, that's true. A big part of that stems from an attitude of gratitude and humility, along with a years-long deep commitment to the communities I serve and am honored to be a part of. Let's talk about how to build community, how to be a good literary citizen where you live, and, really, how to set yourself up for success as a writer — not only in the immediate time but going forward.
RM C - Alan Stuart Mearns "The Poet in Exile: Anchoring the Soul in Memory"
Irish poet Alan Stuart Mearns will read poems and discuss navigating life in a prosthetic home and clinging to the raft of beauty.
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NOON - 1:00pm
LUNCH
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1:15pm - 2:30pm
PRESENTATIONS/WORKSHOPS
RM A - Robert Gwaltney "A Midlife Journey to Publication"
Put on a comfortable pair of walking shoes and take a stroll with Southern novelist Robert Gwaltney as he takes you down the path leading him to the publication of his debut novel, The Cicada Tree. In the shadows of longleaf pines, he will discuss finding his voice as writer, a literary community, and the audacity to tell stories. Along the way, he will pull a few weeds, sharing his ongoing struggle with imposter syndrome, but mostly, he will share the glory of being in the middle of life and at the start of something new.
RM B - Sharon Mabry "Fiction Reading with Q & A"
Mabry reads sections from her new mystery novel, The Postmaster's Daughter, talks about what influenced her character choices, and describes getting it done while working in the music and teaching professions.
RM C - Shana Thornton "Writing in Community Helps with Overcoming Your Imposter Syndrome"
Learn how to share your life as a writer with confidence. In this workshop presentation, you'll draft ideas for where to find a writing community that fits for you, and/or how to change your image if you need a new one as a writer. I'll discuss how to put yourself in writing circles beyond social media. If you already have a book, I'll discuss getting it out to readers and other ways of engaging as a writer, as well as strategies for how to engage an audience with a second book if you don't like how your first book was received.
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2:45pm - 4:00pm
CLOSING SESSION
RM A - Laurina Isabella Lyle "All Together Now"
This closing session gathers us all back together for an engaging, interactive session. This open session facilitates finding fellow writers with the same interests and concerns to help them build their community. Bring your ideas, concerns, and needs. Win a scholarship to attend next year's conference for free and many more great door prizes. A video compilation of the conference will be shown. You'll not want to miss our closing session.
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