[Aug 4-7]
The 27th Annual Mendocino Coast Writers Conference (MCWC) invites the public to a free “First Friday” literary event from 5:30 to 7:30 PM on August 5th at Fort Bragg’s Town Hall (corner of Main and Laurel). Open to all ages and family friendly, the evening will include readings by visiting authors Les Standiford, Reyna Grande, Lori Ostlund and Laura Atkins. Refreshments will be provided courtesy of MCWC, North Coast Brewing Company and Frey Vineyards.
Les Standiford has received the Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Award, the Frank O'Connor Award for Short Fiction, and Fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. His most recent nonfiction title is Water to the Angels.
Reyna Grande’s memoir, The Distance Between Us, about her life before and after illegally crossing from Mexico to the United States as a child, was hailed by the L.A. Times as ‘the Angela’s Ashes of the modern Mexican immigrant experience.’ Grande’s first novel, Across a Hundred Mountains, received a 2007 American Book Award, and the 2006 El Premio Aztlán Literary Award.
Lori Ostlund’s novel After the Parade (Scribner, 2015) is a Barnes and Noble Discover pick. Her first book, a story collection entitled The Bigness of the World, won the Flannery O’Connor Award, the Edmund White Debut Fiction Award, and the California Book Award for First Fiction.
Laura Atkins is an author, teacher and independent children’s book editor. Forthcoming books include a light-hearted picture book Sled Dog Dachshundand a middle grade biography, Fred Korematsu Speaks Up about Japanese internment during WW2.
On Thursday, August 4, 6:30 p.m., the community is also invited to meet mystery writer James W. Hall, poet Jessica Piazza, and author Jordan Rosenfeld and hear their work at a reception at St. Anthony’s Hall, 10700 Lansing Street, Mendocino. Refreshments courtesy of MCWC with wine poured by Handley Cellars. Please be prompt, seating is limited.
Another free, public literary event is the Paths to Publishing panel on Saturday, August 6, 1 p.m. featuring debut authors Hi-Dong Chai, Heather Mackey and Marian Palaia with moderator Virginia Reed. Paths to Publishing takes place at the Mendocino College—Coastal Campus, 1211 Del Mar Drive, Fort Bragg (room 112/114).
While the three-day writers conference is sold out this year, a few seats are open in Publishing Boot Camp, a one-day intensive focused on current publishing options for authors in any genre. Publishing Boot Camp takes place on Sunday, August 7, at Mendocino College-Coastal Campus. Advanced registration is required.
The conference receives support from Poets & Writers through a grant from the James Irvine Foundation and the Hearst Foundations; also from the Community Foundation of Mendocino County and many generous friends who fund scholarships and contest prizes. Featured authors’ books are available for sale at all public events thanks to Gallery Bookshop.
For further details about Publishing Boot Camp registration and public events, please check www.mcwc.org, contact staff by email to info@mcwc.org or leave a message at (707) 485-4031.
(Submitted by Wendy Roberts, PR & Marketing, Mendocino Coast Writers Conference wendy@mcn.org 707-937-4702.)
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