General Registration is now open. To secure your spot to the morning workshop of your choice, use the link below to register today! For more information on the conference, visit our site.
Photo by Mimi Carroll of Jean Chen Ho’s Short Fiction Workshop at the 2022 conference
MCWC 2023 CONTESTS
All conference registrants are encouraged to submit to our writing contest which will be open for submissions from March 15, 2023 until June 30, 2023. There is no entry fee. However, the contest is only open to registered participants of the full three-day conference. Winners will have the opportunity to read their work at the conference, receive credit to the conference bookstore, and winning entries are considered for publication in The Noyo Review.
Photo by Mimi Carroll of at a conference Open Mic
JOIN US ONLINE WITH OUR SPRING SEMINARS
These seminars were developed in response to the demand for more MCWC programming all year round. They also constitute an important fundraiser for us to support our in person summer conference, so please spread the word about this series. Every registration helps us continue creating meaningful, prestigious, and high-quality literary programming for our community. We appreciate your support!
Allegra Pescatore - Writing Disability from the Inside Out
KEY DATES
March 15: General conference registration and contest submissions open
March 25: Online seminar, Writing Disability from the Inside Out with Allegra Pescatore
April 1: Online seminar, Beginnings, Middles and Endings in the Short Story with Leon Craig
April 8: Online seminar, The Joy of Creation with Tanya Ko Hong
April 22: Online seminar, Four Temperaments and the Forms of Poetry with Benjamin Gucciardi
April 29: Online seminar, Archeology of Memory: Discovering the Bones of Your Story with Nicole Gulotta
June 30: Deadline for conference registration and contest submissions
August 3-5: In-person conference
MISS THE LAUNCH PARTY?
Check out the latest issue of The Noyo Review featuring writers and faculty from last year’s conference.
Emily Lloyd-Jones grew up on a vineyard in rural Oregon, where she played in evergreen forests and learned to fear sheep. She has a BA in English from Western Oregon University and a MA in publishing from Rosemont College. She resides in Northern California, where she enjoys wandering in redwood forests. Her young adult novels include Illusive, Deceptive, The Hearts We Sold, The Bone Houses, and The Drowned Woods. Her middle grade books include Unseen Magic and the forthcoming Unspoken Magic.
What drew you to begin writing in your genre?
For many of us lifelong readers, we discovered our love of books in childhood. I remember sinking into an old armchair with a tattered paperback and vanishing for hours into imaginary worlds. When I created my own fantastical worlds, it felt natural to return to that time in my own life. Also teenagers and kids are some of the best readers out there, and it’s a privilege to write for them.
What patterns, rituals or routines are crucial to your writing practice?
I need my morning coffee before anything else. After that, I’m flexible.
Who/what are your key influences and sources of inspiration?
I grew up with myths and fairytales, and I discovered my love of fantasy with Lloyd Alexander’s Prydain series. I also watched a lot of Star Trek: DS9 on our old tv, complete with tin-foil assisted antennae, when I was young - which is how I got into science fiction.
What do you love most about teaching writing?
Most writers carve their own paths. Writing is a very solitary endeavor. I love helping writers discover the tools to make their journey a little easier. We all have our own unique voice and I want to help writers tap into their own experiences and develop the confidence to trust their style.
What are you hoping participants of your MCWC workshop will get out of the time they spend with you?
I hope each participant will leave the workshop with a better understanding of how emotion can guide one’s storytelling, how to craft riveting fiction for children/teens, and how to make a story unique to you. I also hope everyone walks away feeling inspired to create!
MCWC 2023 FACULTY NEWS
Rachel Howzell Hall is a finalist for the L.A. Times Book Prize.
Rachel Howzell Hall
Margaret Malone is a recipient of the 2023 Oregon Literary Fellowship.
Margaret Malone
Carvell Wallace is a recipient of this year’s American Mosaic Journalism Prize. This award comes with an unrestricted cash prize of $100,000 in support of freelance journalists who display excellence in long-form narrative or deep reporting about underrepresented and/or misrepresented groups in America.
Carvell Wallace