Annual Writer’s Festival & Conferences

Elko Cowboy Poetry Gathering

At the end of every January cattle people, rural folks, poets, musicians, gear makers, western enthusiasts, and urbanites tired of the teeming city, gather in Elko, Nevada. From Saturday to Saturday the town welcomes visitors from everywhere to the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering – a jubilee of conversation, singing, dancing, great hats and boots, stories, laughing and crying, big steaks, incessant rhymes, and a galloping cadence that keeps time for a solid week.


Fiction Writing in the Digital Age

This conference is presented by Writers of Southern Nevada. Workshops and presentations will cover the craft of writing for any publishing media, as well as the art of getting published in the new mixed media of contemporary publishing. There will be editors, agents, and published authors. Meet the people who are getting fiction to the people in 2013! There will be an informal cocktail party on Thursday evening, lunches with keynote addresses, and a variety of workshops. And, it’s in Fabulous Downtown Las Vegas Nevada. Conference Pre-Registration Registration is just $250.00 until July 31st, 2013 – a savings of $75 off of the regular price of $325. And, if that’s not enough to get you to register early, consider that pitch sessions with our agents and editors will be scheduled in the order in which registrations occur. The sooner you register, the greater your chance of pitching to your agent or editor of choice!


Las Vegas Writers Conference

Join writing professionals, agents, publishers, industry experts and your colleagues for three days in exciting Las Vegas, Nevada as they share their knowledge of all aspects of the writer’s craft. One of the great charms of the Las Vegas Writers Conference is its intimacy. Registration is limited to 150 attendees so there’s always plenty of one-on-one time with the faculty. There are formal pitch sessions, panels, workshops, and seminars. The faculty is also available throughout the conference for informal discussions and advice. Plus, you’re bound to meet a few new friends. Workshops, seminars, and expert panels will take you through writing in many genres including fiction, creative nonfiction, screenwriting, poetry, journalism, and business writing. There will be many Q&A panels for you to ask the experts all your questions.


Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators Conferences & Retreats

The SCBWI acts as a network for the exchange of knowledge between writers, illustrators, editors, publishers, agents, librarians, educators, booksellers and others involved with literature for young people. It serves as a consolidated voice for professional writers and illustrators the world over.  As a unified body, the SCBWI acts as a powerful force to effect important changes within the field of children’s literature, promoting new copyright legislation, equitable treatment of authors and artists, and fair contract terms.  There are currently more than 22,000 members worldwide, in over 70 regional chapters writing and illustrating in all genres for young readers from board books to young adult (YA) novels, making it the largest children’s writing organization in the world.


Squaw Valley Writers Conference

Every summer since 1969 the Squaw Valley Community of Writers Workshops has brought together poets and prose writers for separate weeks of workshops, individual conferences, lectures, panels, readings and discussions of the craft and the business of writing.  At this workshop you will work with some of the best writers of our times. To learn more about these workshops held in Squaw Valley–which is located about an hour from Reno, Nevada–see the website listed above.


Truckee Meadows Community College Writers Conference

Whether it’s preserving your family history, starting that novel or putting your manuscript into the hands of an agent, the TMCC Writers’ Conference will give you the information and contacts you need to further your literary goals. Started in 1990, this event is held in the spring in Reno, Nevada.


Vegas Valley Book Festival

The Vegas Valley Book Festival is a cooperative effort of the Nevada Humanities Committee, Henderson District Public Libraries and the City of Henderson Department of Parks and Recreation. The Book Festival includes the following:• Three days of readings, lectures and panel discussions• An opportunity to meet favorite authors – or discover new ones• Keynote lectures by nationally-known writers• Showcase for young and promising writers • Book signings and film screenings• Workshops for aspiring writers of all ages• Over 40 booksellers and other vendors


Western Writers of America Convention

Western Writers of America, Inc., was founded in 1953 to promote the literature of the American West and bestow Spur Awards for distinguished writing in the Western field. The founders were largely authors who wrote traditional Western fiction, but the organization swiftly expanded to include historians and other nonfiction authors, young adult and romance writers, and writers interested in regional history. Today it has over 600 members who write everything from mainstream fiction to local history. Its annual convention occurs each June. For the convention, members, guests, editors, and agents gather together to renew friendships, do business, attend panels, go on field trips, and conduct the organization’s business. Each convention concludes with the Spur Awards banquet, the moment when the WWA honors those who win the coveted awards. WWA actively helps its members promote their books and articles, and aggressively promotes the literature of the American West, which it considers this country’s unique contribution to world literature.