In case you missed it, MCWC 2022 was back in person and was an overwhelming success! The 33rd annual Mendocino Coast Writers’ Conference was 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.
Thanks to the generosity of our donors, MCWC was able to fund 23 scholarships for this year’s conference, which was held in person from August 4 - 6. Our increased housing stipends allowed us to welcome writers from all over the U.S.A. to the conference this year - from New York City to Hawaii!
Doug Fortier
This year, in memory of Doug Fortier, a group of writers fundraised the Doug Fortier Memorial Scholarship for Speculative Fiction, which was awarded to Muriel Leung.
Muriel, who will be joining MCWC as faculty in 2023, came in from Oakland. She said, “I was very excited to be in a workshop space again and to have the opportunity to work on my short story collection. The scholarship enabled me to afford an experience that would have prevented me from attending otherwise.”
She left the conference feeling “inspired.”
“I'm grateful for my class with Ayize who encouraged us to think about our writing life alongside our day jobs, to always insist on making time for it. While other conferences may push the agenda of always needing certain opportunities to make writing happen, MCWC is very much of the attitude that writing happens all the time and that we need not put it off anymore. This encouragement is invaluable to me.”
Ayize Jama-Everett and Muriel Leung at MCWC 2022 - photo by Mimi Carroll
Natalie Rose-Gove, who won the Thank You To Healthcare Workers Scholarship and participated in the Emerging Writers’ Workshop said, “My experience at MCWC was fabulous. Life-giving. Refreshing. Renewing. A conference which squashed the real mess of imposter syndrome. I met lifelong acquaintances who I hope to see next year. I saw the Pacific Coast in a way I never knew existed. I wept at the beauty and grandeur of what felt like a movie. I could not have been here without the scholarship.”
Natalie and the Emerging Writers’ Workshop at MCWC 2022 - photo by Mimi Carroll
Ebony Haight, who was selected for a Terry Connelly First Taste Scholarship for the Master Class, said that she is “grateful for the experience.”
Ebony and the Master Class Workshop at MCWC 2022 - photo by Mimi Carroll
“I can confidently say that without the support I received I would not have attended the conference. I was glad to see the real diversity of conference participants, and was proud that I added to that mix. The housing stipend allowed me to choose to stay close by, at a place where I felt comfortable, which contributed to my overall ability to participate in, enjoy, and reap the full benefits of the conference.”
She says, “I'm so glad spaces like yours exist.”
Jessica and new friends at MCWC 2022 - photo by Mimi Carroll
Jessica Z. who received an Albertina Tholakele Dube Scholarship said that “it was a transformative experience.”
“Had it not been for the housing stipend, I absolutely would not have been able to attend MCWC 2022, which was my first-ever writing conference. I left the conference feeling the way I move through the world both held and affirmed in the way that comes from being seen by others I find kinship with, and transformed. My world has expanded by so much since attending.”
She describes her experience as “life changing.”
“I am so thankful for the intimate and care-filled nature of MCWC, and each day felt a lifetime in that it was full and dense with so many insightful and thoughtful teachings, comments, lines of prose, and questions I'm still processing. I was also touched by the intergenerational friendships I could make, with high schoolers who I saw myself in, and with folks in their 30s/40s/50s/60s who demonstrated so much rigor and joy in their writing and in their lives, who modeled to me who I hope to be like as I progress through my life. Life-changing, I've felt certain in my practice, but there's a sense of ease and grounding I feel after MCWC, that there is nothing for me to do but to keep going (writing, reading, listening, editing).”
Designed to make our Conference accessible to writers from diverse backgrounds and to reward writing of outstanding merit, our scholarships are largely funded by generous individual donors. If you would like to fund a scholarship, please contact us. You can find details on how to make a general donation in support of the MCWC here. Thank you for your support!