Dear MCWC followers,
We returned to an in-person format for our 33rd Annual Mendocino Coast Writers’ Conference and it was a success well worth the wait. We had a vibrant and energetic three days of workshops, seminars, open mics, and readings that carried on great MCWC traditions and brought many new writers and friends into our inclusive writing community.
Photo credit: Mimi Carroll
We send resounding gratitude for our 2022 faculty (not in order of appearance): Faith Adiele (Memoir Master Class), Pablo Cartaya (MG/YA), Naomi Hirahara (Mystery), Ayize Jama-Everett (Speculative Fiction), Miah Jeffra (Emerging Writers), Lydia Kiesling (Novel), Michelle Peñaloza and Georgina Marie Guardado (Poetry), Karen Tei Yamashita (Keynote Speaker); Jonah Straus (Literary Agent), Jade Chang (Author), Mary Burns (Author), and Lorraine Hee-Chorley (Historian).
Photo credit: Mimi Carroll
Our Pathways to Publishing and Pitch Panels were especially enjoyed by participants and faculty. We can’t forget to mention the incredible food options provided by The Brickery, Pilón Kitchen, Chef Oscar and her team, and more.
We had the pleasure of hosting over 60 participants who came from many different locations around the United States and beyond, including the Mendocino Coast, Ukiah, Eureka, Lake County, New York, Illinois, Hawaii, Oregon, Colorado, Canada, and more!
Photo credit: Mimi Carroll
Here are some reviews from our wonderful 2022 participants:
“Right from the registrars, organizers, MC's, faculty, board and cooks, the whole conference is put on spectacularly well.”
“MCWC — which I chose by the randomness of it still having spots available — is my first writers’ conference and I think my experiences here will stay with me for the rest of my life! It may have been chosen at random, but I think fate also played a hand because I think this was exactly where I was supposed to be at this point in my life.”
“I was appreciative and still am about the care and concern regarding COVID. Eating outside and wearing masks indoors was a great way to try to keep us all safe. Had it not been that way, I would have felt very anxious. Thank you for not only setting the COVID protocols, but for modeling and enforcing them.”
“The conference provided a fantastic set of offerings with a great mix of ways to engage - I plan to return and recommend it to folks in my various writing communities since I think it was an excellent event other writers would appreciate.”
Photo credit: Mimi Carroll
We couldn’t have done this without our participants, faculty, volunteers, donors, and sustaining members.
Photo credit: Mimi Carroll
Our Executive Director, Lisa Locascio Nighthawk, and Operations Manager, Alexander Matthews, were instrumental in the planning of this year’s conference, as were our Board of Directors, Kara Vernor, Laura Welter, Aime McGee, Anna Levy, Eliana Yoneda, Michelle Peñaloza, Vincent Poturica, Sheba Brown, Georgina Marie Guardado, Justine Gomes, and Elaina Erola (not in order of appearance).
Photo credit: Mimi Carroll
We also warmly welcome our new Interim Executive Director, Georgina Marie Guardado and Operations Manager, Patty West!
Georgina Marie Guardado is the Poet Laureate of Lake County, CA for 2020-2024, and a Poets Laureate Fellow with the Academy of American Poets. She is the Literary Editor for The Bloom, a contributing writer for Antioch University’s Common Thread News, and the Literacy Program Coordinator for the Lake County Library. In 2020, she was an Anne G. Locascio scholar with the Mendocino Coast Writers’ Conference, and a Brereton Scholar for the Napa Valley Writers’ Conference in 2021. Her work has appeared in The Bloom, Noyo Review, Poets.org, Humble Pie Magazine, Gulf Coast Journal, Yellow Medicine Review, and The Muleskinner Journal, and is forthcoming in Colossus: Freedom and Two Hawks Quarterly.
Patty West is a producer and arts educator based in California. For 10 years, she led filmmaking programs at the American Film Institute and now serves as the Digital Course Director for the Sundance Institute. As a Producer/Executive Producer, her feature film credits include Some Girl(s) (2013), Addicted to Fresno (2015), and They (2017). West is a Chicago native and holds a B.S. from Northwestern University, an M.F.A. from the AFI Conservatory and an Executive M.B.A. from Quantic School of Business & Technology.
Photo credit: Karen Lewis
We are already looking forward to next year when the 2023 Mendocino Coast Writers’ Conference will run from August 3-5, 2023. We’ve been receiving wonderful feedback and many good ideas for how we can continue to improve our Conference and its offerings. We are delighted to announce that we have already confirmed seven faculty members for 2023, including our Keynote Speaker and Master Class instructor Ariel Gore, Daniel B. Summerhill (Poetry), Nayomi Munaweera (Novel), Ploi Pirapokin (Speculative Fiction), Sarah McColl (Memoir), Carvell Wallace (Nonfiction), and Muriel Leung (Emerging Writers)!
Stay tuned for more updates!