Join us every morning for thirty-minute writing exercises to spark creativity and openness.

Jumping off this tongue-in-cheek question famously posed by Marilyn Monroe, we'll look at classic and contemporary aubades (poems of morning good-byes) and nocturnes (poems that take place at night) as well as a little bit of natural history of the sun and nocturnal animals to jump-start our own ways of writing light and dark, night and day.

This craft talk is funded, in part, by a grant from South Arts in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and the North Carolina Arts Council.

This editorial craft talk focuses on what to consider when putting together a periodical publication (i.e., journal, magazine, 'zine, or the like) pointedly focused on a specific cause, debate, and/or interest. We will start with a discussion about the periodical's salient quality of the contemporary, and then walk through a list of considerations and brainstorming activities that are helpful in figuring out how you want to stage your conversation, using the Georgia Review's special issue on the census as a model.

This editorial talk is funded, in part, by a grant from South Arts in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and the North Carolina Arts Council.

conversation moderated by Melissa Crowe

This reading is funded, in part, by a grant from South Arts in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and the North Carolina Arts Council.

Join us every morning for thirty-minute writing exercises to spark creativity and openness.

"The future," writes Carlos Levi, "has an ancient heart." In this craft talk, Sabrina Orah Mark will consider how we can use the (old) materials of the fairytale to imagine a future.

Transformation happens on all levels—personal, creative, and civic. We want to remind Writers' Week audiences that their votes matter!  

Today is election day, and if you have not yet voted, we want to encourage you to go to the polls. Your voice matters. Wear your mask—and bring water, hand sanitizer, and your headphones so you can tune in to our Writers' Week programs while you wait to vote. In North Carolina, you can find details about your polling place at ncsbe.gov. Photo ID is not currently required to vote in North Carolina. If you’re joining us from elsewhere in the US, visit vote411.org to find information on voting and your polling place. Make sure your vote is counted!

Send Word, a portable correspondence station, offers encouragement to connect with family and friends via our beloved USPS. This on-screen, post-election edition will include a letter-writing prompt toward recalling what matters to us most. Our featured stationer is Bridget Lewis of Delta Letterpress, a studio in Sacramento, California, focused on custom stationery, fine printing, and social justice. Find their work here—Anna Lena suggests these postcards. Bring your favorite writing implement, postcards (or a cereal box and some scissors) and stamps, and join us to write a letter today! 

Characterization is one of the foundations of great writing. In this lecture we'll look at great examples of characterization from writers like Alice Walker, Emma Donoghue, Bruce Chatwin, and others, and will learn how to use intense observation, research, and our daily lives to transform characters into living, breathing human beings that readers will always remember.

Moderated by UNCW assistant professor and Lookout Books editor KaToya Ellis Fleming, this panel features editors and authors Gerald Maa, co-founder of the Asian American Literary Review and current editor of the Georgia Review; Aimee Nezhukumatathil, contributing editor to Terrain and to Orion magazine after serving as its poetry editor; and Deesha Philyaw, founding editor of 1839, curator of the VISIBLE series for the Rumpus and Mama's Writing at Raising Mothers, and co-editor of the anthology Tender. Panelists will discuss representation and activism in publishing, including the roles and responsibilities of editors in seeking diverse perspectives and narratives. They will talk about shaping the pages and cultures of presses and magazines through editorial leadership, challenging points of view, and addressing institutional change to welcome and support new voices.

This panel is funded, in part, by a grant from South Arts in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and the North Carolina Arts Council.

conversation moderated by Rebecca Lee

Join us every morning for thirty-minute writing exercises to spark creativity and openness.

Can you incorporate research into your writing without boring your reader—or yourself? How do you speak to archivists and get them to give up their secrets? What are the best snacks to sneak into the library? Drawing on her work as an archivist and research into the life of Carson McCullers, Jenn Shapland will offer insights into the process of conducting research. She'll also show some unusual forms that research can take on the page in genre-bendy work by Claudia Rankine, Layli Long Soldier, Eula Biss, and others.

Monika Woods, literary agent and founder of Triangle House, discusses the basics of the publishing industry from an author-oriented perspective. She'll discuss platform (what does that mean and how do I get one?), querying (how do I even start?), and the path a project takes from draft to submission to book on a shelf.

conversation moderated by Anna Lena Phillips Bell

Join us every morning for thirty-minute writing exercises to spark creativity and openness.

panel moderated by Emily Louise Smith