BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//San Diego Writers Festival - ECPv6.16.1//NONSGML v1.0//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH X-WR-CALNAME:San Diego Writers Festival X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://sandiegowritersfestival.com X-WR-CALDESC:Events for San Diego Writers Festival REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H X-Robots-Tag:noindex X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/Los_Angeles BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0800 TZOFFSETTO:-0700 TZNAME:PDT DTSTART:20200308T100000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0700 TZOFFSETTO:-0800 TZNAME:PST DTSTART:20201101T090000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0800 TZOFFSETTO:-0700 TZNAME:PDT DTSTART:20210314T100000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0700 TZOFFSETTO:-0800 TZNAME:PST DTSTART:20211107T090000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0800 TZOFFSETTO:-0700 TZNAME:PDT DTSTART:20220313T100000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0700 TZOFFSETTO:-0800 TZNAME:PST DTSTART:20221106T090000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0800 TZOFFSETTO:-0700 TZNAME:PDT DTSTART:20230312T100000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0700 TZOFFSETTO:-0800 TZNAME:PST DTSTART:20231105T090000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0800 TZOFFSETTO:-0700 TZNAME:PDT DTSTART:20240310T100000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0700 TZOFFSETTO:-0800 TZNAME:PST DTSTART:20241103T090000 END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230214T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230214T000000 DTSTAMP:20260606T004508 CREATED:20230203T000313Z LAST-MODIFIED:20230203T001033Z UID:269639-1676332800-1676332800@sandiegowritersfestival.com SUMMARY:KidsWrite! Submissions Open DESCRIPTION:KidsWrite! Submissions Open February 14\, 2023 \nAll writers in Kindergarten through 12th Grade who reside in San Diego County are welcome to submit.  The three literature categories are Poetry\, Short Story\, and Graphic Story (illustrated story). \n\nPoetry may be in any format\, rhyming or free verse;\nShort Story is generally (but does not have to be) a work of fiction;\nGraphic Story is a poem\, essay\, or short story told in illustrations\, no more than 4 pages long\, either hand-drawn and scanned or using a graphic drawing program such as ProCreate. Entries may or may not have captions or speech/thought bubbles.\nWriters may submit works in one or more categories—for example\, one Poem and one Short Story—but may submit only one work per category. Please see Section 4: Entry Rules / Requirements / How-To’s\, below\, for more entry information.\n\nLearn More: https://sandiegowritersfestival.submittable.com/submit URL:https://sandiegowritersfestival.com/event/kidswrite-submissions-open/ LOCATION:Sample Venue Name\, Sample Venue Address\, Sample Venue City\, CA\, 12345\, United States CATEGORIES:Kids Programming ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://sandiegowritersfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Kidswrite-theme-2023png-e1675383008231.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230126T170000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230126T180000 DTSTAMP:20260606T004508 CREATED:20230116T211021Z LAST-MODIFIED:20230116T211630Z UID:269614-1674752400-1674756000@sandiegowritersfestival.com SUMMARY:Warwick’s + SDWF Book Club present Hester: A Novel by Laurie Lico Albanese DESCRIPTION:Warwick’s + SDWF Book Club: Hester: A Novel by Laurie Lico Albanese\nTime: Thursday\, January 26\, 2023\, 5:00-6:00 PM Pacific Time \nBuy the Book: Click here to buy from Warwick’s \nA Facebook Live Event: Join us here \nNamed a Most Anticipated Book for Fall by Goodreads • Washington Post • New York Post • BuzzFeed • PopSugar • Business Insider • An October Indie Next List Pick • An October LibraryReads Pick \n“A hauntingly beautiful––and imagined––origin story to The Scarlet Letter.” ––People \nWHO IS THE REAL HESTER PRYNNE?Isobel Gamble is a young seamstress carrying generations of secrets when she sets sail from Scotland in the early 1800s with her husband\, Edward. An apothecary who has fallen under the spell of opium\, his pile of debts have forced them to flee Glasgow for a fresh start in the New World. But only days after they’ve arrived in Salem\, Edward abruptly joins a departing ship as a medic––leaving Isobel penniless and alone in a strange country\, forced to make her way by any means possible. \nWhen she meets a young Nathaniel Hawthorne\, the two are instantly drawn to each other: he is a man haunted by his ancestors\, who sent innocent women to the gallows––while she is an unusually gifted needleworker\, troubled by her own strange talents. As the weeks pass and Edward’s safe return grows increasingly unlikely\, Nathaniel and Isobel grow closer and closer. Together\, they are a muse and a dark storyteller; the enchanter and the enchanted. But which is which? \nIn this sensuous and hypnotizing tale\, a young immigrant woman grapples with our country’s complicated past\, and learns that America’s ideas of freedom and liberty often fall short of their promise. Interwoven with Isobel and Nathaniel’s story is a vivid interrogation of who gets to be a “real” American in the first half of the 19th century\, a depiction of the early days of the Underground Railroad in New England\, and atmospheric interstitials that capture the long history of “unusual” women being accused of witchcraft. Meticulously researched yet evocatively imagined\, Laurie Lico Albanese’s Hester is a timeless tale of art\, ambition\, and desire that examines the roots of female creative power and the men who try to shut it down. \n\n\n\n“A unique take on a story that tackles what it costs to be an “unusual” woman.” ––BuzzFeed \n“Albanese’s novel will engage readers seeking racial themes\, a resilient heroine\, and a feminist origin story for one of America’s always relevant nineteenth-century classics.” ––Booklist \n“A lovely fictional look at the origins of [Hawthorne’s] masterpiece…the rich details of life in Salem in the early 19th century\, and especially about Isobel’s creative work as a seamstress and designer\, enliven the tale.” ––Kirkus \n“A standout historical… Even those unfamiliar with the classic will be hooked by this account of a capable woman standing up to the sexist and racial prejudices of her time.” ––Publishers Weekly \n“Hester is a vividly reimagined portrayal of the tragic heroine in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter. “Full of lush and colorful prose\, this is a tale of one woman’s determination and self-reliance amid the ‘new world’ of 19th-century Salem\, which teems with festering secrets and alluring prospects. A message of resilience\, Hester proves that a woman will do whatever she must to prosper\, even when she is left with nothing but courage―and a few secrets of her own.” ––Sarah Penner\, New York Times bestselling author of The Lost Apothecary \n“Albanese has written a masterpiece that should be required reading alongside Hawthorne’s classic tale of adultery. Rich in detail and hauntingly lyrical\, she examines the myriad ways that extraordinary women are judged harshly and forced to downplay their gifts in order to conform to society’s demands. Enthralling\, ambitious\, and a total knock-out.” ––Fiona Davis\, New York Times bestselling author of The Lions of Fifth Avenue \n“A rich tapestry of a novel. In dreamlike yet vivid prose\, Albanese weaves a story about 19th century Salem\, a place with a dark history where secrets still abound\, and conjures the life of Hawthorne’s muse\, a woman whose skill and imagination are both the key to her survival and the source of others’ mistrust and envy. Vivid\, complex\, and intricately detailed.” ––Christina Baker Kline\, #1 New York Times bestselling author \n“This page-turning and poignant novel beautifully imagines the untold life story of the woman who went down in literary history wearing a scarlet letter. Albanese lets the reader accompany her through an early life of secret powers and difficult attachments on her way to becoming a strong and independent woman.” ––Alice Elliott Dark\, author of Fellowship Point \n“The diverse women at the heart of The Crucible\, the Salem witch trials\, and The Scarlet Letter at last get their say―in full-throated technicolor. A luminous blend of fiction and truth\, with an extraordinarily gifted heroine at its center\, Hester weaves together a spellbinding tapestry of Salem history as it has never been told before.” ––Afia Atakora\, author of Conjure Women \n\n\nLaurie Lico Albanese has published fiction\, poetry\, journalism\, travel writing\, creative nonfiction\, and memoir. Her books include Stolen Beauty\, Blue Suburbia: Almost a Memoir\, Lynelle by the Sea\, and The Miracles of Prato\, co-written with art historian Laura Morowitz. Laurie is married to a publishing executive and is the mother of two children. URL:https://sandiegowritersfestival.com/event/warwicks-sdwf-book-club-present-hester-a-novel-by-laurie-lico-albanese/ LOCATION:Virtual CATEGORIES:Book Club ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://sandiegowritersfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/2-14.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20221008T093000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20221008T180000 DTSTAMP:20260606T004508 CREATED:20220819T214447Z LAST-MODIFIED:20220827T160804Z UID:268877-1665221400-1665252000@sandiegowritersfestival.com SUMMARY:2022 Writers Festival DESCRIPTION:Full Schedule\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Local award-winning author\, Shilpi Somaya Gowda\, author of Secret Daughter\, The Golden Son\, and The Shape of Family (Keynote) \nQian Julie Wang\, author of Beautiful Country: A Memoir (A NYT Bestsellter and Notable Book of 2021; One of President Obama’s Favorite Books of 2021; NPR Best Book of 2021) (in conversation with Marni Freedman) \nAuthors Madhushree Ghosh (Khabaar) and Keith Corbin (California Soul: An American Epic of Cooking and Survival) (on Food Writing as Metaphor) \nLaura Cathcart Robbins host of The Only One in the Room podcast and author of Stash (workshop on the publishing process from query to cover art) \nSan Diego’s own Dean Nelson\, author of Talk to Me: How to Ask Better Questions\, Get Better Answers\, and Interview Anyone – (Art of the Interview workshop and panel on the current state of journalism) \nSDWF Poet in Residence\, Gill Sotu – (performance and creative writing workshop) \nKirsten Grind\, WSJ reporter and author of Happy At Any Cost: The Revolutionary Vision and Fatal Quest of Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh \nAward-winning mystery writers panel with Matt Coyle (author of the Rick Cahill Series); Naomi Hirihara (Clark and Division); Joe Ide (The Goodbye Coast and the IQ series); and Gary Phillips (One Shot Harry). \nHistorical fiction panel with Jennifer Coburn (Cradles of the Reich); Nicola Harrison (The Showgirl); and Jill Hall (The Green Lace Corset) \nAuthor Amy Wallen (How to Write a Novel in 20 Pies) (workshop on Striving for Imperfection) \nKidlit authors\, Virginia Loh-Hagan\, and Lee Wind (on speaking out against book banning) \nAward-winning actress\, screenwriter\, and comedian\, Renee Taylor (The Nanny) \nMemoir panel with Jesse Leon (I’m Not Broken); Sonora Jha (How to Raise a Feminist Son); Laura Engel (You’ll Forget This Ever Happened) \nZibby Owen\, host of Moms Don’t Have Time to Read Books podcast and author of Bookends (on building community and being an author advocate and book influencer) \nand Dave Putnam (author of the Bruno Johnson series); Linda Moore (Attribution); Leslie Johansen Nack (The Blue Butterfly); and Anastasia Zadeik (Blurred Fates) (on Developing a Book Marketing Plan) \n…and more to come! URL:https://sandiegowritersfestival.com/event/2022-writers-festival/ LOCATION:Coronado Public Library\, 640 Orange Avenue\, Coronado\, California\, 92118 CATEGORIES:2022 Writers Festival ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://sandiegowritersfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/SDWF-2022-Save-the-Date.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20220929T170000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20220929T180000 DTSTAMP:20260606T004508 CREATED:20220821T003443Z LAST-MODIFIED:20220822T183911Z UID:268964-1664470800-1664474400@sandiegowritersfestival.com SUMMARY:Virtual Book Club: Warwick's + SDWF Book Club Secret Daughter by Shilpi Somaya Gowda DESCRIPTION:Warwick’s + SDWF Book Club: Secret Daughter by Shilpi Somaya Gowda \nTime: September 29\, 2022\, 5:00-6:00 PM Pacific Time \nBuy the Book: Click here to buy from Warwick’s \n\nA Facebook Live Event. Click here to join. \n\n\n\n\n\nMoving and thought-provoking and informative and imaginative and beautifully executed.  What a wonderful story!”\n—Mary Jane Clark \n“This book is a must for anyone touched by adoption\, or India\, or the delicate dynamic between adolescent girls and their mothers.”\n—Sujata Massey\, author of Shimura Trouble \nSecret Daughter\, a first novel by Shilpi Somaya Gowda\, explores powerfully and poignantly the emotional terrain of motherhood\, loss\, identity\, and love through the experiences of two families—one Indian\, one American—and the child that binds them together. A masterful work set partially in the Mumbai slums so vividly portrayed in the hit film Slumdog Millionaire\, Secret Daughter recalls the acclaimed novels of Kim Edwards and Thrity Umrigar\, yet sparkles with the freshness of a truly exciting new literary voice. \n  \n\n\n\n\nAbout the Author:\nShilpi Somaya Gowda was born and raised in Toronto\, Canada. Her previous novels\, Secret Daughter and The Golden Son became international bestsellers\, selling over one million copies worldwide. She holds an MBA from Stanford University and a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill\, where she was a Morehead-Cain scholar. She lives in California with her husband and children. URL:https://sandiegowritersfestival.com/event/virtual-book-club-warwicks-sdwf-book-club-secret-daughter-by-shilpi-somaya-gowda/ LOCATION:Virtual CATEGORIES:Book Club ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://sandiegowritersfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/C69AE2DA-EA75-4DC0-8BCD-DBC49C499990.jpeg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20220616T170000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20220616T180000 DTSTAMP:20260606T004508 CREATED:20220503T210019Z LAST-MODIFIED:20220822T183614Z UID:268772-1655398800-1655402400@sandiegowritersfestival.com SUMMARY:Virtual Book Club: Warwick's + SDWF Book Club Never Simple: A Memoir\, featuring Liz Scheier DESCRIPTION:Warwick’s + SDWF Book Club: Never Simple: A Memoir\, featuring Liz Scheier  \nTime: June16\, 2022\, 5:00-6:00 PM Pacific Time \nBuy the Book: Click here to buy from Warwick’s \n\nA Facebook Live Event. Click here to join. \n\n\n\nLiz Scheier’s darkly funny and touching memoir—with shades of Jeannette Walls’s The Glass Castle and Mira Bartók’s The Memory Palace—of growing up in ’90s Manhattan with a brilliant\, mendacious single mother. \nScheier’s mother Judith was a news junkie\, a hilarious storyteller\, a fast-talking charmer you couldn’t look away from\, a single mother whose devotion crossed the line into obsession\, and—when in the grips of the mental illness that plagued every day of her life—a violent and abusive liar whose hold on reality was shaky at best. On an uneventful afternoon when Scheier was eighteen\, her mother sauntered into the room to tell her two important things: one\, she had been married for most of Scheier’s life to a man she’d never heard of\, and two\, the man she’d told Scheier was her father was entirely fictional. She’d made him up. Those two big lies were the start\, but not the end; it took dozens of smaller lies to support them\, and by the time she was done she had built a farcical\, half-true life for the two of them\, from fake social security number to fabricated husband. \nOne hot July day twenty years later\, Scheier receives a voicemail from Adult Protective Services\, reporting that Judith has stopped paying rent and is refusing all offers of assistance. That call is the start of a shocking journey that takes the Scheiers\, mother and daughter\, deep into the cascading effects of decades of lies and deception. \nNever Simple is the story of learning to survive—and\, finally\, trying to save—a complicated parent\, as feared as she is loved\, and as self-destructive as she is adoring. \n\n\n\nLiz Scheier is a former Penguin Random House editor who worked in publishing and content development for many years\, including at Barnes & Noble.com and Amazon. She writes book reviews and feature articles for Publishers Weekly. She is now a product developer living in Washington\, D.C.\, with her husband\, two small children\, and an ill-behaved cat. Never Simple is her first book. URL:https://sandiegowritersfestival.com/event/never-simple-a-memoir-featuring-liz-scheier/ LOCATION:Virtual CATEGORIES:Book Club ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://sandiegowritersfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/SDWFWarwicks_Book_Club_Never_Simple1.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20220414T170000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20220414T180000 DTSTAMP:20260606T004508 CREATED:20220302T013618Z LAST-MODIFIED:20220302T013951Z UID:268657-1649955600-1649959200@sandiegowritersfestival.com SUMMARY:Virtual Book Club: Warwick's + SDWF Book Club Beneficence featuring bestselling-author Meredith Hall DESCRIPTION:Warwick’s + SDWF Book Club: Beneficence featuring bestselling-author Meredith Hall \nTime: Apr 14\, 2022\, 5:00-6:00 PM Pacific Time \n  \n\nBuy the Book: Click here to buy from Warwick’s\nA Facebook Live Event. Click here to join. \n\nAfter a sudden and terrible loss\, how does a loving family find their way back to the goodness and peace they once shared? Reviewers and readers have called this literary historical novel “hauntingly beautiful\,” “a masterpiece of compassion\,” “a page-turner and an artistic triumph.”\nWritten by a masterful storyteller\, this is a book that illuminates the journey we make through grief to healing. \nIn the midst of a nearly perfect life\, Doris Senter is thankful but wary. “We can’t ever know what will come\,” she says. When an unimaginable tragedy turns the family of five into a family of four\, everything the Senters held faith in is shattered. The family is consumed by sorrow and guilt. Slowly\, the surviving family members find their way to forgiveness―of themselves and of each other. \nFew writers know the human heart and the burden of grief as New York Times bestselling author Meredith Hall (Without a Map). This is a radiant novel of goodness and love―both its gifts and its obligations―that will stay with readers long after the last page. With a rare tenderness and compassion\, Beneficence shows broken hearts becoming whole as this family reclaims their love and peace. \n\nWhat people are saying: \n\n“People stay together\, fall apart\, come back together\, altered. It is a book about work\, about grief\, about thick ongoing love. Hall’s prose is hewn\, sinewy\, with moments of electrifying beauty and grace.”―Boston Globe \n“One of the best books I’ve ever read.”―Simon Van Booy \n“As organically as it traveled to heartbreak\, Beneficence progresses to the place of wisdom that lies beyond it\, where we learn that a home is part of the ‘vast world of innocence and harm\,’ not an island beyond it.”―Wall Street Journal \n“A modern American masterpiece.”―Dani Shapiro \n“If the word ‘luminous’ didn’t already exist\, you’d have to invent it to describe Meredith Hall’s radiant new novel Beneficence.”―Richard Russo \n“These voices from the past speak so clearly to our time\, at a moment when many of us wonder whether we’ll lose the things that we consider blessings….Beneficence is a quiet but steady book\, one that echoes ancient and important rhythms.”―Washington Post \n“A quiet gem…hard to put down.”―Library Journal\n\n\nMeredith Hall‘s memoir Without a Map was instantly recognized as a classic of the genre and became a New York Times bestseller. It was named Best Book of the Year by Kirkus and BookSense\, as well as Elle’s “Readers’ Pick of the Year.” Ms. Hall was a recipient of the 2004 Gift of Freedom Award from A Room of Her Own Foundation. Her work has appeared in The New York Times\, Paris Review\, Five Points\, Gettysburg Review\, Kenyon Review\, Southern Review\, and many other journals. Hall divides her time between Maine and California. \nWebsite: https://meredithhall.org \nTwitter: @MerHallBooks URL:https://sandiegowritersfestival.com/event/virtual-book-club-sdmwa-warwicks-sdwf-book-club-beneficence-featuring-bestselling-author-meredith-hall/ LOCATION:Virtual CATEGORIES:Book Club ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://sandiegowritersfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Beneficence-Cover.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20220205T143000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20220205T163000 DTSTAMP:20260606T004508 CREATED:20211217T221648Z LAST-MODIFIED:20220130T023136Z UID:268583-1644071400-1644078600@sandiegowritersfestival.com SUMMARY:Virtual Book Club: SDMWA & Warwick's + SDWF Book Club House of Sticks: A Memoir with Ly Tran DESCRIPTION:SDMWA & Warwick’s + SDWF Book Club House of Sticks: A Memoir with Ly Tran \nTime: Feb 5\, 2022\, 02:30 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada) \n \n\nBuy the Book: Click here to buy from Warwick’s\nA Facebook Live Event. Click here to join. \nand \nJoin Zoom Meeting. Click here to join.\nMeeting ID: 883 6389 6322\nPasscode: 144210 \n\nOne of Vogue and NPR’s Best Books of the Year \nThis beautifully written “masterclass in memoir” (Elle) recounts a young girl’s journey from war-torn Vietnam to Queens\, New York\, “showcas[ing] the tremendous power we have to alter the fates of others\, step into their lives and shift the odds in favor of greater opportunity” (Star Tribune\, Minneapolis). \nLy Tran is just a toddler in 1993 when she and her family immigrate from a small town along the Mekong river in Vietnam to a two-bedroom railroad apartment in Queens. Ly’s father\, a former lieutenant in the South Vietnamese army\, spent nearly a decade as a POW\, and their resettlement is made possible through a humanitarian program run by the US government. Soon after they arrive\, Ly joins her parents and three older brothers sewing ties and cummerbunds piece-meal on their living room floor to make ends meet. \nAs they navigate this new landscape\, Ly finds herself torn between two worlds. She knows she must honor her parents’ Buddhist faith and contribute to the family livelihood\, working long hours at home and eventually as a manicurist alongside her mother at a nail salon in Brooklyn that her parents take over. But at school\, Ly feels the mounting pressure to blend in. \nA growing inability to see the blackboard presents new challenges\, especially when her father forbids her from getting glasses\, calling her diagnosis of poor vision a government conspiracy. His frightening temper and paranoia leave a mark on Ly’s sense of self. Who is she outside of everything her family expects of her? \nAn “unsentimental yet deeply moving examination of filial bond\, displacement\, war trauma\, and poverty” (NPR)\, House of Sticks is a timely and powerful portrait of one girl’s coming-of-age and struggle to find her voice amid clashing cultural expectations. \n\n\nGet your copy at Warwicks here.\n\n LY TRAN graduated from Columbia University with a degree in Creative Writing and Linguistics in 2014. She has received fellowships from MacDowell\, Art Omi\, and Yaddo. House of Sticks is her first book.\n\nVideo of Ly talking about her book from her publisher’s site:\nhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVzJdn-5n70&ab_channel=Simon%26SchusterBooks\n\n\nMore Reviews: \n“Tran fluctuates between tenderness and quiet rage … [Tran] honor[s] these complexities\, tell[s] us we were not meant to swallow our pain and survive in this world without support systems.”\n—New York Times Book Review“[An] unsentimental yet deeply moving examination of filial bond\, displacement\, war trauma\, and poverty. Ostensibly an immigrant success story\, Tran’s narrative power lies in its nuanced celebration of filial devotion that withstands the enormous cost of the American dream … The dilapidated nail salon in a racially volatile Brooklyn neighborhood that Tran’s parents came to own after the end of their sweatshop era — with its filing sticks as tools of the trade — witnessed their stark tribulations as well as the wondrous resilience of their immigrant selves. In the end\, Tran’s empathy and her parents’ appreciation of her filial love cemented the emotional bricks that steady their seemingly tenuous hold on this unaccustomed earth.”\n—NPR”Powerful … showcases the tremendous power we have to alter the fates of others\, step into their lives and shift the odds in favor of greater opportunity”\n—Minneapolis Star Tribune“House of Sticks is a book that will assault and warm your heart at the same time—a classic immigrant tale\, told from the perspective of a Vietnamese child who settled with her family in New York City in the early ’90s with little to no knowledge about life in America… But it is also much more: a coming of age story\, A New York hustle\, a battle with a father who not only maintains an ironclad sense of filial duty\, but also\, fueled by his paranoia\, exercises irrational control over things like vision correction. (In another elegant examination of absence\, the book recounts what a fundamental challenge it is to move through the world without basic ability to see.)”\n—Vogue\, Best Books to Read 2021″Graceful but unflinching\, Ly Tran’s House of Sticks follows the author’s immigration from Vietnam to New York as a toddler\, and the subsequent identity shaping and re-shaping she undergoes throughout her youth and early adult years. Resettled in Queens through a humanitarian program—her father is a former POW—Tran attempts to honor her family through faith and labor\, only to find herself yearning for something that exists outside of their home. Intimate yet universal\, this is a masterclass in memoir.”\n—Elle\, Best Books of Summer 2021″A moving recount of how Tran and her family immigrated from a small town in Vietnam to a two-bedroom railroad apartment in Queens\, and how she forged her path in a new culture.”\n—Marie Claire\, 20 New Books by Asian Authors to Get Excited About \n\n\n\nSocial media/Website:\n\n@LyTranWrites (Twitter)  \nWww.LyTran.me (Author Website)  URL:https://sandiegowritersfestival.com/event/virtual-book-club-sdmwa-warwicks-sdwf-book-club-house-of-sticks-a-memoir-with-ly-tran/ LOCATION:Virtual CATEGORIES:Book Club ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://sandiegowritersfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/House-of-Sticks-A-Memoir-book-cover_opt.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20211202T170000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20211202T180000 DTSTAMP:20260606T004508 CREATED:20211013T003004Z LAST-MODIFIED:20211013T003004Z UID:268493-1638464400-1638468000@sandiegowritersfestival.com SUMMARY:Virtual Book Club: All's Well: A Novel by Mona Awad DESCRIPTION:Join us\, on facebook live\, December 2nd (Thursday)\, from 5 to 6 pm PST for a free virtual book club with Mona Awad\nA Facebook Live Event. Click here \n\nMiranda Fitch’s life is a waking nightmare. The accident that ended her burgeoning acting career left her with excruciating\, chronic back pain\, a failed marriage\, and a deepening dependence on painkillers. And now she’s on the verge of losing her job as a college theater director. Determined to put on Shakespeare’s All’s Well That Ends Well\, the play that promised\, and cost\, her everything\, she faces a mutinous cast hellbent on staging Macbeth instead. Miranda sees her chance at redemption slip through her fingers. \nThat’s when she meets three strange benefactors who have an eerie knowledge of Miranda’s past and a tantalizing promise for her future: one where the show goes on\, her rebellious students get what’s coming to them\, and the invisible\, doubted pain that’s kept her from the spotlight is made known. \nWith prose Margaret Atwood has described as “no punches pulled\, no hilarities dodged…genius\,” Mona Awad has concocted her most potent\, subversive novel yet. All’s Well is the story of a woman at her breaking point and a formidable\, piercingly funny indictment of our collective refusal to witness and believe female pain.\n\n\n\nBuy your copy of All’s Well from our sponsor\, Warwick’s\, by clicking here.\n\nPraise for:\nFrom the author of Bunny\, which Margaret Atwood hails as “genius\,” comes a dazzling and darkly funny novel about a theater professor who is convinced staging Shakespeare’s most maligned play will remedy all that ails her—but at what cost? \nA MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF SUMMER 2021 SELECTED BY * ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY * VULTURE * LITHUB * REFINERY29 * GOODREADS * POPSUGAR * NOW MAGAZINE * BOSTON * AND MORE \n“[A] sparkling valentine to the Bard. A dream of a novel\, perfect for a midsummer night’s read.”—OPRAH DAILY\n“A dazzling wild ride of a novel—daring\, fresh\, entertaining\, and magical.” —GEORGE SAUNDERS\n“Wild and exhilarating and so fresh it takes your breath away.” —LAUREN GROFF\n“Oh my lord what a fabulous novel—knocked me out!”—MARY KARR\n\nAbout Mona:\nMona Awad is the author of Bunny\, named a Best Book of 2019 by TIME\, Vogue\, and the New York Public Library. It was a finalist for the New England Book Award and a Goodreads Choice Award. It is currently in development for film with Jenni Konner and New Regency Productions. Awad’s first novel\, 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl\, was a finalist for the Scotiabank Giller Prize and winner of the Colorado Book Award and the Amazon Canada First Novel Award. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times Magazine\, Vogue\, TIME\, McSweeney’s\, Ploughshares\, and elsewhere. She teaches fiction in the Creative Writing program at Syracuse University. Her new novel\, All’s Well\, has been named a best or most anticipated book of summer by Entertainment Weekly\, O Magazine\, Goodreads\, and many more.\n\n \nMona’s Social Media:\n\n\n\n\n\nFollow Mona Awad on Instagram: www.instagram.com/misss_read/\nWebsite: monaawadauthor.com\nFollow Mona Awad on Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/author/show/7104825.Mona_Awad URL:https://sandiegowritersfestival.com/event/virtual-book-club-alls-well-a-novel-by-mona-awad/ LOCATION:Virtual CATEGORIES:Book Club ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://sandiegowritersfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Alls-Well-Graphic.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20211113T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20211113T120000 DTSTAMP:20260606T004508 CREATED:20211030T004519Z LAST-MODIFIED:20211030T004519Z UID:268521-1636797600-1636804800@sandiegowritersfestival.com SUMMARY:How to Get a Publishing House to Take You Seriously with Joe Ide DESCRIPTION:  \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nRSVP HERE\n\n\n\n\nWith hosts: Jeniffer Thompson and Anastasia Hipkins \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nJoe’s course is not your ordinary talk about tips\, tricks\, and secrets. Designed for aspiring writers who are serious about becoming a novelist\, the class chronicles what Joe has learned on his rise from failed career after failed career to successful\, critically acclaimed author. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nJoe Ide grew up in South Central Los Angeles\, where his favorite books were the Conan Doyle Sherlock Holmes stories. He went on to earn a graduate degree and had several careers — including Hollywood screenwriter — before writing his debut novel IQ. Inspired by his early experiences and his love of Sherlock Holmes\, IQ went on to win the Anthony\, Macavity\, and Shamus awards. Snoop Dogg has signed on to executive produce a forthcoming TV series based on the IQ series. Joe’s newest novel The Goodbye Coast: A Philip Marlowe Novel\, will be released by Little\, Brown and Company on February 1\, 2022. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n“Raymond Chandler’s iconic detective\, Philip Marlowe\, gets a dramatic and colorful reinvention at the hands of award-winning novelist Joe Ide. The seductive and relentless figure of Raymond Chandler’s detective\, Philip Marlowe\, is vividly re-imagined in present-day Los Angeles. Here is a city of scheming Malibu actresses\, ruthless gang members\, virulent inequality\, and washed-out police. Acclaimed and award-winning novelist Joe Ide imagines a Marlowe very much of our time: he’s a quiet\, lonely\, and remarkably capable and confident private detective\, though he lives beneath the shadow of his father\, a once-decorated LAPD homicide detective\, famous throughout the city\, who’s given in to drink after the death of Marlowe’s mother.” \n\n\n\n\nTopics this course will cover: \n\n\n\n\n• Discuss storytelling: the ingredients that make one story compelling and another fall flat.\n• Learn Joe’s methods for creating dynamic characters and dialogue that’s sharp\, smart\, and entertaining.\n• Introduction to his approach to building action scenes\, as well as the basics of rewriting.\n• Publishing field: the gatekeepers\, who they are\, and what they expect.\n• What publishers are looking for and what they’ll reject out of hand.\n• Discussion of money: advances\, royalties\, movie\, and TV options.\n• He’ll answer practical questions like I’m about to write a 300-page novel; how do I start?\nPrologue or no prologue?\nI’m stuck. What do I do now?\nHow do I write twists and turns? What am I looking for when I’m rewriting?\nHow do I develop my “voice”? URL:https://sandiegowritersfestival.com/event/how-to-get-a-publishing-house-to-take-you-seriously-with-joe-ide/ LOCATION:Virtual CATEGORIES:MASTER CLASS ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://sandiegowritersfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Joe-Ide-SDWF-classs-image-1.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20211016T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20211016T113000 DTSTAMP:20260606T004508 CREATED:20210916T192025Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210920T220543Z UID:268438-1634378400-1634383800@sandiegowritersfestival.com SUMMARY:Laurie R King in Conversation with Meg Gardiner - Thriller / Mystery DESCRIPTION:Join masters of their crafts\, Laurie R. King and Meg Gardiner in conversation on How To Write a Thriller \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nThis is a do-not-miss discussion with the last 15 minutes for Q and A. \nRSVP HERE\nAbout Laurie R. King: \nLaurie R. King’s crime novels are both serial and stand-alone. First in the hearts of most readers comes Mary Russell\, who met the retired Sherlock Holmes in 1915 and became his apprentice\, then his partner. Beginning with The Beekeeper’s Apprentice\, Russell and Holmes move through the Teens and Twenties in amiable discord\, challenging each other to ever greater feats of detection. \nIn the Russell & Holmes stories\, King explores ideas—the roots of conflict in the Middle East and Afghanistan; feminism and early Christianity; patriotism and individual responsibility—while also having a rousing good time.  Various stories revisit The Hound of the Baskervilles and Kipling’s Kim\, set a pair of Bedouin nomads down in a grand country house in England\, and offer an insider’s view of the great quake and fire of 1906\, all the while forging an unlikely relationship between two remarkably similar individuals who happen to be separated by age\, sex\, and background. \nKing’s Stuyvesant & Grey series\, also historical\, follows American ex-Bureau of Investigation agent Harris Stuyvesant\, damaged young Captain Bennett Grey\, and Grey’s sister Sarah as they move through Europe between the Wars. \nFive King novels concern San Francisco homicide inspector Kate Martinelli\, Kate’s SFPD partner Al Hawkin\, and her life partner Lee Cooper. In the course of the stories\, Kate has encountered a female Rembrandt\, a modern-day Holy Fool\, two difficult teenagers\, and a manifestation of the goddess Kali. \nKing’s stand-alone suspense novels include A Darker Place\, the story of a middle-aged professor of religion who investigates “cults” for the FBI\, and encounters a movement that embraces the dangerous beliefs of alchemy.  Folly tells of woodworker Rae Newborne\, who comes to a deserted island to rebuild a house\, and her life. Keeping Watchis the story of Rae’s friend Allen Carmichael\, a Vietnam vet who draws on his combat experiences to rescue abused women and children—until he comes across a boy whose problems may rival his own. Califia’s Daughters (a paperback original by “Leigh Richards”) is a post-apocalyptic sort of tale set in a near future where women rule and men are fragile. \nShe has collaborated on nonfiction works including Crime & Thriller Writing and The Grand Game\, and on several short story anthologies.\n\n\n\nAbout Meg Gardiner: \nEdgar-winning novelist Meg Gardiner writes thrillers. Fast-paced and full of twists\, her books have been called “Hitchcockian” (USA Today) and “nailbiting and moving” (Guardian). They have been bestsellers in the U.S. and internationally and have been translated into more than 20 languages. \nThe Dark Corners of the Night\, her current title\, is the third novel in the UNSUB series\, featuring FBI agent Caitlin Hendrix. Stephen King says\, “Don’t miss it. This is a great one.” Booklist says\, “This suspenseful thriller is exquisitely constructed… Gardiner is on a roll.” It has been bought by Amazon Studios for development as a television series. The first novel in the series\, UNSUB\, won the 2018 Barry Award for Best Thriller. \nThe Evan Delaney novels feature a feisty journalist from Santa Barbara\, California. Stephen King calls them “simply put\, the finest crime-suspense series I’ve come across in the last twenty years.” \nChina Lake won the 2009 Edgar Award for Best Paperback Original. Later it was a finalist for NPR’s 100 Best Thrillers Ever. \nThe Jo Beckett series features a San Francisco forensic psychiatrist. It includes The Liar’s Lullaby\, The Memory Collector\, and The Dirty Secrets Club\, which was chosen one of the Top Ten thrillers of 2008 by Amazon and won the Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award for Best Procedural Novel of the year. \nThe Nightmare Thief\, featuring both Jo Beckett and Evan Delaney\, won the 2012 Audie Award for Thriller/Suspense audiobook of the year. \nMeg’s stand-alone novel The Shadow Tracer was named one of Kirkus Reviews’ Best Books of 2013. Phantom Instinct was chosen one of “The Best Books of Summer” by O\, the Oprah magazine. \nIn addition to her fifteen novels\, Meg has published short stories in American and British magazines and the anthologies Echoes of Sherlock Holmes and  Deadly Anniversaries. She’s contributed essays to Now\, Write! Mysteries\, The Mystery Writers of America Cookbook\, and the Anthony Award-winning Books to Die For. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nShe is the 2020 president of Mystery Writers of America. URL:https://sandiegowritersfestival.com/event/laurie-r-king-in-conversation-with-meg-gardiner-thriller-mystery/ LOCATION:Virtual CATEGORIES:MASTER CLASS ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://sandiegowritersfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Laurie-R-King-image-book.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20211005T170000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20211005T180000 DTSTAMP:20260606T004508 CREATED:20210823T210755Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210823T210755Z UID:268415-1633453200-1633456800@sandiegowritersfestival.com SUMMARY:Virtual Book Club: The Necklace\, A Novel by Matt Witten DESCRIPTION:Join us\, on facebook live\, October 5th (Tuesday)\, from 5 to 6 pm PST for a free virtual book club with Matt Witten\nA Facebook Live Event. Click here to join. \n\n\nPlease RSVP to the event here. \n\n\nThe clock ticks down in a heart-pounding crusade for justice.\nSusan Lentigo’s daughter was murdered twenty years ago—and now\, at long last\, this small-town waitress sets out on a road trip all the way from Upstate New York to North Dakota to witness the killer’s execution. \nOn her journey she discovers shocking new evidence that leads her to suspect the condemned man is innocent—and the real killer is still free. Even worse\, her prime suspect has a young daughter who’s at terrible risk. With no money and no time to spare\, Susan sets out to uncover the truth before an innocent man gets executed and another little girl is killed. \nBut the FBI refuses to reopen the case. They—and Susan’s own mother—believe she’s just having an emotional breakdown. Reaching deep\, Susan finds an inner strength she never knew she had. With the help of two unlikely allies—a cynical\, defiant teenage girl and the retired cop who made the original arrest—Susan battles the FBI to put the real killer behind bars. Will she win justice for the condemned man—and her daughter—at last? \nPerfect for fans of Karin Slaughter and Harlan Coben \nThe Necklace has been optioned for film by Appian Way and Cartel Pictures\, with Leonardo DiCaprio attached as producer. \n\n\n\n\n\n \npraise for…\n\n“[The Necklace] is as fast and tense as a great thriller should be\, but it’s full of warmth and humanity too—one small-town woman’s quest for the most poignant kind of justice you could imagine. Buy it today and read it tonight!” —Lee Child\, New York Times best-selling author \n “Thelma and Louise meets The Green Mile in this unique and powerful thriller following one mother’s cross-country journey to find the truth.” —Lisa Gardner\, New York Times best-selling author \n “The Necklace‘s brave\, truly unforgettable heroine grabbed my heart . . . This compelling\, powerful read will stay with you long after you’ve turned the final page.” —Lee Goldberg\, #1 New York Times best-selling author \n “The Necklace is an addictively readable story of a mother’s quest for justice. Surprising\, propulsive\, and poignant. I inhaled this novel.” —Meg Gardiner\, Edgar Award-winning author \n “A high stakes drama that introduces us to a heroine with an honorable streak that runs bone deep. The subject matter is gut-wrenching and thought provoking\, the entire tale laced with a haunting eeriness. Matt Witten is a pro\, and this gem of a thriller is proof positive of that.” —Steve Berry\, New York Times best-selling author \n  \n\nAbout Matt:\nMatt Witten is a TV writer\, novelist\, playwright and screenwriter who has written for many TV shows including House\, Pretty Little Liars\, Law & Order\, CSI: Miami\, Medium\, JAG\, The Glades\, Homicide\, Judging Amy\, and Women’s Murder Club. His latest thriller\, The Necklace\, will come out from Oceanview Publishing this September. It’s been optioned for film by Appian Way and Cartel Pictures\, with Leonardo DiCaprio attached as producer. Matt has also written four mystery novels set in upstate New York that were published by Signet: Breakfast at Madeline’s\, Grand Delusion\, Strange Bedfellows\, and The Killing Bee. He wrote the movie Drones. He has been nominated for two Edgars and an Emmy\, and his debut novel won the Malice Domestic Award.\n\n\nMatt’s Website: mattwittenwriter.com \n\nMatt’s Social Media:\n\nGoodreads: www.goodreads.com/author/show/206833.Matt_Witten\nTwitter: @mattzwitten\nInstagram: MattWitten22\nFacebook: Matt Witten \n\n\nMatt’s Publisher Social Media\n\nPublisher: Oceanview Publishing.\nTwitter: @oceanviewpub\nInstagram: oceanviewpub\nFacebook: Oceanview Publishing URL:https://sandiegowritersfestival.com/event/virtual-book-club-the-necklace-a-novel-by-matt-witten/ LOCATION:Virtual CATEGORIES:Book Club ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://sandiegowritersfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/thenecklace-cover-image_opt.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20210911T143000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20210911T143000 DTSTAMP:20260606T004508 CREATED:20210414T141509Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210427T151401Z UID:263641-1631370600-1631370600@sandiegowritersfestival.com SUMMARY:The San Diego Memoir Writers Association is launching Shaking the Tree 3 in September! DESCRIPTION:The theme for this year’s anthology is “I Didn’t See That One Coming” \nPlease join us on September 11th at 2:30 pm (PST) for a virtual book launch. \nWe will have author readings\, swag giveaways\, and a lively Q and A session with the authors and editors. URL:https://sandiegowritersfestival.com/event/the-san-diego-memoir-writers-association-is-launching-shaking-the-tree-3-in-august/ LOCATION:Virtual CATEGORIES:Community Events ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://sandiegowritersfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Shaking-the-tree-volume-3-cover.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20210731T173000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20210731T183000 DTSTAMP:20260606T004508 CREATED:20210426T170922Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210630T202102Z UID:263797-1627752600-1627756200@sandiegowritersfestival.com SUMMARY:How to Write a Mystery DESCRIPTION:Join SDWF host Anastasia Hipkins and listen in on a conversation between Lee Child\, Laurie R. King\, Neil Nyren\, and Frankie Y. Bailey about How to Write a Mystery\, based on the new handbook of the same name from Mystery Writers of America. Edited by multi-award-winning NYT bestselling authors Lee Child and Laurie R. King\, How to Write a Mystery “helps authors navigate the ever-shifting publishing landscape—from pacing\, plotting\, and the business side of publishing\, to the current demand for diversity and inclusivity across all genres\, and more.”  \nFeaturing \n\nLee Child\, New York Times bestselling and multi-award-winning author of the Jack Reacher series\, editor of How to Write a Mystery;\nLaurie R. King\, New York Times bestselling and multi-award-winning author of twenty-seven novels\, co-editor of How to Write a Mystery;\nNeil Nyren\, former EVP\, associate publisher\, and editor in chief of G.P. Putnam’s Sons\, where he edited the work of (among others) Tom Clancy\, Clive Cussler\, Carl Hiaasen\, Daniel Silva\, Ken Follett\, and Jonathan Kellerman; and\nFrankie Y. Bailey\, PhD\, professor in School of Criminal Justice (SUNY Albany) and author of five novels and numerous short stories\n\n  \n \n \n \n \n \n Event Sponsor: Sally Buffington\, author of A Place Like This\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet Our Sponsor\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet the Speakers\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Anastasia Zadeik Hipkins is a freelance writer\, editor\, and writing coach. She regularly performs in narrative non-fiction showcases\, including So Say We All’s VAMP and the San Diego Memoir Showcase\, and her work has appeared in The Literary Vine Review and Shaking the Tree.Having received a BA in psychology from Smith College\, Anastasia worked for an international neuropsychological research firm before and while raising her children\, living overseas from 1991-2000. After returning stateside\, she and her family settled in the San Diego area where\, over the last nineteen years\, she has volunteered and served as a board member for a variety of nonprofit organizations dedicated to health\, education\, and the arts. She currently lives in Mission Hills with her husband and empty-nest rescue dog\, Charlie. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Previously a television director\, union organizer\, theatre technician and law student\, Lee Child is the author of the bestselling Jack Reacher series. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Laurie R. King is the NYT bestselling author of eighteen Mary Russell-Sherlock Holmes novels\, five Kate Martinellis\, two Stuyvesant-Greys\, five standalones\, various short stories and novellas\, and edited a number of anthologies and nonfiction works. She has won the Agatha\, Anthony\, Edgar\, Lambda\, Wolfe\, Macavity\, Creasey dagger\, and Romantic Times Career Achievement awards\, has an honorary doctorate\, and is a Baker Street Irregular. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Neil Nyren retired at the end of 2017 as evp\, associate publisher\, and editor in chief of G.P. Putnam’s Sons\, and is the winner of the 2017 Ellery Queen Award from the Mystery Writers of America. Among the writers of crime and suspense with whom he has worked are Tom Clancy\, Clive Cussler\, John Sandford\, C.J. Box\, Robert Crais\, Carl Hiaasen\, Daniel Silva\, Jack Higgins\, Frederick Forsyth\, Ken Follett\, Jonathan Kellerman\, Ed McBain\, and Ace Atkins. He now writes about crime fiction and publishing for CrimeReads\, The Big Thrill\, The Third Degree\, BookTrib\, and Publishers Weekly\, among other publications. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Frankie Y. Bailey\, PhD is a professor in the School of Criminal Justice University at Albany (SUNY). She studies crime history\, and crime and mass media/popular culture and material culture. She is the author of five mysteries featuring amateur sleuth Lizzie Stuart and two police procedurals novels featuring Albany police detective Hannah McCabe. For more information see her website.Also visit Albany University URL:https://sandiegowritersfestival.com/event/how-to-write-a-mystery/ LOCATION:Virtual CATEGORIES:2022 Writers Festival,Mystery ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://sandiegowritersfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/How_to_Write_a_Mystery-1.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20210731T150000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20210731T160000 DTSTAMP:20260606T004508 CREATED:20210426T170106Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210630T201844Z UID:263793-1627743600-1627747200@sandiegowritersfestival.com SUMMARY:Writing for the Screen DESCRIPTION:Producer and screenwriter\, Carlos de los Rios hosts an honest conversation about the state of movies and television with a panel of professional producers and writers\, including Los Angeles movie and television producer\, Lee Caplin (producer of Columbia Pictures’ Ali\, starring Will Smith and HBO’s True Detective)\, screenwriter Tony Griffin (Drop Zone with Wesley Snipes)\, director and feature film producer\, Gabriel Bologna (The Theory of the Leisure Class and African Gothic)\, and Scott Myers\, producer and writer (K-9\, Alaska and Trojan War). Topics covered will include the current state of the writing marketplace for movies and TV\, breakthrough works that stand out from the pack\, and secrets to getting your work seen and heard\, as well as top writing secrets employed by the writers on the panel. \nFeaturing: \n\nGabriel Bologna\, actor and director\, Tango Shalom \nLee Caplin\, producer of Ali and True Detective \nTony Griffin\, actor and writer\, Drop Zone\, Spaceballs\, and Squint \nScott Myers\, producer and writer\, K-9\, Alaska and Trojan War\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet the Speakers:\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Carlos de los Rios has written and published six books of prose and poetry. He is also a working filmmaker who has written/produced seven acclaimed films for Academy Award-winners Lauren Bacall and Harvey Fierstein\, Academy Award-nominee Elliot Gould\, Emmy Award-winners Johnny Galecki\, Golden Globe-nominee Hayden Panettiere as well as movie stars such as Scott Eastwood (“Texas Chainsaw 3-D”) and Josh Hutcherson (Peeta from the blockbuster hit\, “The Hunger Games”). Carlos has worked on more than 20 books\, 30 films and has written and or produced seven films. Carlos lectures throughout California and is a sought-after script doctor\, writing coach and story consultant. Carlos’ clients include top Hollywood screenwriters and New York Times best-selling writers. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Before Gabriel Bologna’s career as a writer/director\, he was an accomplished actor for fifteen years\, working with such film directors as Francis Ford Coppola and Mark Rydel. He was discovered by James Burrows while attending New York University Tisch and was flown out to Universal Studios to star in the ABC series\, The Marshall Chronicles\, where he played loveable tough guy\, Jonny Parmetko. The New York Times reviewed Gabriel’s role as “a brilliant Fonzi redux specimen.” Though it only ran a season\, the show has been immortalized on Wikipedia as being the impetus for Larry David changing the name The Seinfeld Chronicles to Seinfeld as to not compete with Gabriel’s show which had been launched at the exact same time. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Scott Myers has written over thirty movie and TV projects at nearly every major Hollywood studio and broadcast network. His screenwriting credits include K-9\, Alaska\, and Trojan War. \nFrom 2002- 2010\, Scott was an executive producer at Trailblazer Studios\, overseeing the company’s original content development for TV. \nScott has taught in the UCLA Extension Writers’ Program\, receiving its Outstanding Instructor Award in 2005\, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill\, and in 2016 joined the faculty at the DePaul University School of Cinematic Arts as an assistant professor. \nSince 2008\, Scott has hosted GoIntoTheStory.com\, the official screenwriting blog of the Black List. Writers’ Digest named it the “Best of the Best Scriptwriting Website” and it gets 2M+ unique visits per year. \nHis book An Introduction to Character-Driven Screenwriting and Storytelling: The Protagonist’s Journey is being published by Palgrave Macmillan and will be released toward the end of 2021. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Lee Evan Caplin is an American entertainment and communications industry executive. He is the founder of Picture Entertainment Corporation and currently serves as chairman and CEO. Caplin also founded iSTAR at FIU within CARTA in Miami. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Tony Griffin was born on December 8\, 1959 in California\, USA as Anthony Patrick Griffin. He is an actor and writer\, known for Spaceballs (1987)\, Squint (2001) and Drop Zone (1994). He is married to Tricia Gist. They have two children. URL:https://sandiegowritersfestival.com/event/writing-for-the-screen/ LOCATION:Virtual CATEGORIES:2022 Writers Festival,Screenplay Writing ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://sandiegowritersfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Writing_for_the_Screen-1.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20210731T134500 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20210731T144500 DTSTAMP:20260606T004508 CREATED:20210426T165858Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210716T193919Z UID:263791-1627739100-1627742700@sandiegowritersfestival.com SUMMARY:Writing the Page-Turning Novel with Jeniffer Thompson DESCRIPTION:Join festival co-founder and host of The Premise podcast\, Jeniffer Thompson\, as she moderates this lively discussion about secrets and questions\, pacing and plot twists\, riveting yet relatable characters\, and chapter-ending hooks that force your hand to turn “just one more page” until you find yourself at the end of the book. \nFeaturing: \n\nBill Clegg\, author of The End of the Day\nJoe Ide\, Shamus\, Macavity and Anthony Award-winning author of the IQ series\, including the latest installment\, Smoke \nLisa See\, 2020 Tucson Festival of Books Founders Award-winning author of The Island of Sea Women\nKatherine Seligman PEN/Bellwether Prize winning author of At the Edge of  the Haight\n\n \n \n \n \n \n Event Sponsor: Captain Lew Maurer\, author of Herman and The Princess Gull\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet Our Sponsor\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet the Speakers\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Jeniffer Thompson is a personal branding expert\, digital marketing strategist and host of The Premise podcast. She is an author and speaker who delivers strategy-rich content and actionable tools that educate and empower authors. With a BA in Journalism from SDSU\, Jeniffer is an ardent believer in the power of storytelling—she is always looking for\, or telling\, a story. She believes that story has the power to develop a greater sense of empathy\, transform us\, and build community. \nJeniffer is passionate about helping authors establish highly visible brands. She and her husband\, Chad\, co-founded Monkey C Media in 2004 and have been creating award-winning book cover designs and author websites ever since. They specialize in author services that integrate digital marketing strategies and engage readers all over the world. \nShe is a co-founder of the San Diego Writers Festival\, serves on the board of the San Diego Memoir Writers Association\, and is currently writing her own coming of age memoir. \nJeniffer is a rock climber and thrill seeker. She and Chad live in San Diego with their persnickety Manx cat\, Mishka\, and three fluffy chickens who love to follow her around and give her delicious eggs almost everyday. \nFor author services\, visit MonkeyCMedia.com; for actionable brand strategy techniques and digital marketing strategies\, subscribe to her blog at JenifferThompson.com. Listen to her podcast at ThePremisePod.com. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Bill Clegg is a literary agent in New York and the author of the bestselling memoirs Portrait of an Addict as a Young Man and Ninety Days. His first novel\, Did You Ever Have a Family\, hit the New York Times bestseller list and was longlisted for the National Book Award\, Man Booker Prize\, PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize\, and Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence. Bill has also written for The New York Times\, Lapham’s Quarterly\, New York magazine\, The Guardian\, and Harper’s Bazaar. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Joe Ide is of Japanese American descent and grew up in South Central Los Angeles. Joe’s favorite books were the Conan Doyle Sherlock Holmes stories. The idea that a person could face the world and vanquish his enemies with just his intelligence fascinated him. Joe went on to earn a graduate degree and had several careers before writing his debut novel\, IQ\, inspired by his early experiences and love of Sherlock. Joe lives in Santa Monica\, California. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Lisa See’s new novel\, The Island of Sea Women\, is about the free-diving women of South Korea’s Jeju Island. Booklist called The Island of Sea Women“stupendous… enthralling…and engrossing.” Jodi Picoult has given her praise: “Lisa See excels at mining the intersection of family\, friendship and history\, and in her newest novel\, she reaches new depths exploring the matrifocal haenyeo society in Korea\, caught between tradition and modernization. This novel spans wars and generations\, but at its heart is a beautifully rendered story of two women whose individual choices become inextricably tangled.” Independent booksellers honored the novel by selecting it as an Indie Next pick\, while Barnes & Noble chose the novel for its nationwide March 2019 Book Club. \nMs. See lives in Los Angeles. You can also follow her adventures on Instagram\, Twitter & Facebook \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Katherine Seligman is a journalist and author who lives in San Francisco. She has been a writer at the San Francisco Chronicle Magazine\, a reporter at the San Francisco Examiner\, and a correspondent at USA Today. Her work has appeared in Redbook\, Life\, Money\, California Magazine\, the anthology Fresh Takes\, and elsewhere. URL:https://sandiegowritersfestival.com/event/writing-the-page-turning-novel/ LOCATION:Virtual CATEGORIES:2022 Writers Festival,Keynote Author,On Writing ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://sandiegowritersfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Writing_a_Page_Turning_Novel.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20210731T123000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20210731T133000 DTSTAMP:20260606T004508 CREATED:20210426T165446Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210630T162305Z UID:263789-1627734600-1627738200@sandiegowritersfestival.com SUMMARY:Discussing The Craft of Writing with Tayari Jones DESCRIPTION:Award-winning NYT bestselling author\, 2021 Guggenheim Fellow\, and Festival  Keynote Tayari Jones discusses her unique approach to the craft of writing with festival co-founder Marni Freedman\, followed by the presentation of the 2021 SDWF Writer of the Year Award. \nA NEW YORK TIMES AND WASHINGTON POST NOTABLE BOOK \nA 2018 BEST OF THE YEAR SELECTION OF NPR  * TIME  * BUSTLE  * O\, THE OPRAH MAGAZINE  * THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS  * AMAZON.COM \nWINNER OF THE 2019 NAACP IMAGE AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING LITERARY WORK—FICTION \n“A moving portrayal of the effects of a wrongful conviction on a young African-American couple.” —Barack Obama \n“Haunting . . . Beautifully written.” —The New York Times Book Review \n“Brilliant and heartbreaking . . . Unforgettable.” —USA Today \nNewlyweds Celestial and Roy are the embodiment of both the American Dream and the New South. He is a young executive\, and she is an artist on the brink of an exciting career. But as they settle into the routine of their life together\, they are ripped apart by circumstances neither could have imagined. Roy is arrested and sentenced to twelve years for a crime Celestial knows he didn’t commit. Though fiercely independent\, Celestial finds herself bereft and unmoored\, taking comfort in Andre\, her childhood friend\, and best man at their wedding. As Roy’s time in prison passes\, she is unable to hold on to the love that has been her center. After five years\, Roy’s conviction is suddenly overturned\, and he returns to Atlanta ready to resume their life together. \nThis stirring love story is a profoundly insightful look into the hearts and minds of three people who are at once bound and separated by forces beyond their control. An American Marriage is a masterpiece of storytelling\, an intimate look deep into the souls of people who must reckon with the past while moving forward—with hope and pain—into the future.\n \n \n \n \n \n Event Sponsor:\nMarlena Fiol and Ed O’Connor\, authors of Called\, A Novel\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet The Sponsor\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet The Speakers\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n New York Times best-selling author Tayari Jones is the author of four novels\, most recently An American Marriage. Published in 2018\, An American Marriage is an Oprah’s Book Club Selection and also appeared on Barack Obama’s summer reading list as well as his year-end roundup. The novel was awarded the Women’s Prize for Fiction (formerly known as the Orange Prize)\, Aspen Words Prize and an NAACP Image Award. It has been published in two dozen countries. \nJones\, a 2021 Guggenheim Fellow\, has also been a recipient of the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award\, United States Artist Fellowship\, NEA Fellowship\, and Radcliffe Institute Bunting Fellowship. Her third novel\, Silver Sparrow\, was added to the NEA Big Read Library of classics in 2016. \nJones is a graduate of Spelman College\, University of Iowa\, and Arizona State University. She is an Andrew D. White Professor-at-Large at Cornell University and the Charles Howard Candler Professor of Creative Writing at Emory University. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Marni Freedman is a screenwriter\, playwright\, award-winning author\, writing coach\, and co-founder of the San Diego Writers Festival. After graduating from USC film school\, Marni began her career bringing her play\, “Two Goldsteins on Acid\,” to the stage\, after which it was made into the film\, “Playing Mona Lisa\,” produced by Disney. She co-authored the play\, A Jewish Joke\, about a 1950s comedy writer facing the Hollywood Blacklist\, which won the NY Solo Show for best drama\, critics’ choice for the San Diego Union-Tribune\, and was recently produced Off-Broadway. Marni leads the Memoir Certificate Program for San Diego Writers\, Ink\, produces the San Diego Memoir Writers Association’s theatrical Memoir Showcase\, and is an editor of Shaking the Tree: short. brazen. memoir. She is also a writing coach and a therapist for artists and writers. Her first book\, 7 Essential Writing Tools: That Will Absolutely Make Your Writing Better (And Enliven Your Soul)\, is an Amazon Bestseller. Her second award-winning book is Permission to Roar: For Female Thought Leaders Ready to Write their Book. You can find Marni at www.marnifreedman.com\, a writing hub to help writers find their authentic voice. URL:https://sandiegowritersfestival.com/event/discussing-the-craft-of-writing-with-tayari-jones/ LOCATION:Virtual CATEGORIES:2022 Writers Festival,Keynote Author,On Writing ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://sandiegowritersfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Jones_Tayari_Craft_of_Writing.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20210731T111500 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20210731T121500 DTSTAMP:20260606T004508 CREATED:20210426T165125Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210707T171715Z UID:263787-1627730100-1627733700@sandiegowritersfestival.com SUMMARY:Interview with Rabbi Steve Leder\, author of The Beauty of What Remains DESCRIPTION:Following their much-loved appearance during the 2020 Summer Festival Days\,  acclaimed journalist Dean Nelson and bestselling author Rabbi Steve Leder join us again in 2021 for a conversation about life\, death\, grief\, and The Beauty of What  Remains\, an inspiring book about loss based on Rabbi Leder’s most popular sermon. \nAs the senior rabbi of one of the largest synagogues in the world\, Steve Leder has learned over and over again the many ways death teaches us how to live and love more deeply by showing us not only what is gone but also the beauty of what remains. \nThis inspiring and comforting book takes us on a journey through the experience of loss that is fundamental to everyone. Even after having sat beside thousands of deathbeds\, Steve Leder the rabbi was not fully prepared for the loss of his own father. It was only then that Steve Leder the son truly learned how loss makes life beautiful by giving it meaning and touching us with love that we had not felt before. \nEnriched by Rabbi Leder’s irreverence\, vulnerability\, and wicked sense of humor\, this heartfelt narrative is filled with laughter and tears\, the wisdom of millennia and modernity\, and\, most of all\, an unfolding of the profound and simple truth that in loss we gain more than we ever imagined. \n \n \n \n \n \n Event Sponsor: Madonna Treadway\, author of Grief Hack: A Creative Process for Coping with Everyday Loss\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet Our Sponsor\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet the Speakers\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Rabbi Steve Leder currently serves as the Senior Rabbi of Wilshire Boulevard Temple\, a prestigious synagogue in Los Angeles with two campuses and 2\,400 families. Rabbi Leder is currently concluding his 225 million dollar campaign to develop the congregation’s historic urban campus encompassing an entire city block. The campus is soon to include a new building by Pritzker Prize winning architect Rem Koolhaas. \nIn addition to his many duties at Wilshire Boulevard Temple Rabbi Leder taught Homiletics for 13 years at Hebrew Union College in Los Angeles. He is a regular contributor and guest on The Today Show\, writes regularly for TIME\, Foxnews.com\, Maria Shriver’s Sunday Paper\, contributed a chapter to Charles Barkley’s book Who’s Afraid of a Large Black Man?\, and has published essays in Town and Country\, the Los Angeles Times\, USA Today and the Los Angeles Jewish Journal where his Torah commentaries were read weekly by over 50\,000 people. His sermon on capital punishment was included in an award winning episode of The West Wing. Rabbi Leder received the Louis Rappaport Award for Excellence in Commentary by the American Jewish Press Association and the Kovler Award from the Religious Action Center in Washington D.C. for his work in African American/Jewish dialogue and in 2012 presented twice at the Aspen Ideas Festival. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Dean Nelson is the founder and director of the journalism program at Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego. He writes occasionally for the New York Times\, the Boston Globe\, San Diego Magazine\, Westways\, Sojourners\, and several other national publications. He has won several awards from the Society of Professional Journalists for his reporting\, and has written or co-written 14 books. Nelson is a frequent speaker at writing workshops and retreats. \nHe has traveled throughout the world covering stories of human interest — India\, where he wrote about the slums of Bombay; Kosovo\, where he interviewed and wrote about victims of terrorism; Tanzania\, where he wrote about members of the Black Panther Party who live in exile; Tibet\, where he wrote about religious persecution; Central America\, where he wrote about poverty and contaminated water; New Orleans\, where he wrote about the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina; Haiti\, where he wrote about the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake; Iceland\, where he wrote about the literary scene there; Croatia\, where he wrote about a part of Europe that is trying to reinvent itself after the breakup of the Soviet Union; Rome\, where he wrote about the Canonization of Mother Teresa\, and elsewhere. URL:https://sandiegowritersfestival.com/event/interview-with-rabbi-steve-leder-author-of-the-beauty-of-what-remains/ LOCATION:Virtual CATEGORIES:2022 Writers Festival,Keynote Author ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://sandiegowritersfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Leder_Steve.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20210731T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20210731T110000 DTSTAMP:20260606T004508 CREATED:20210426T164619Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210707T150028Z UID:263781-1627725600-1627729200@sandiegowritersfestival.com SUMMARY:Interview with Kaitlyn Greenidge\, author of Libertie DESCRIPTION:Listen in as Brooke Warner\, author\, Publishers Weekly columnist\, and co-host of the popular podcast\, Write-minded\, interviews Kaitlyn Greenidge\, 2021 Guggenheim Fellow and award-winning author of We Love You\, Charlie Freeman\, about her newest book\, Libertie.   \nLibertie has been named One of the Most-Anticipated Books of 2021 by: \nO\, The Oprah Magazine\, The New York Times\, The Washington Post\, Time\, The Millions\, Refinery29\, Publishers Lunch\, BuzzFeed\, The Rumpus\, BookPage\, Harper’s Bazaar\, Ms.\, Goodreads\, and more. \n“Libertie is a feat of monumental thematic imagination.” \n—Margaret Wilkerson Sexton\, The New York Times Book Review \nComing of age in a free Black community in Reconstruction-era Brooklyn\, Libertie Sampson is all too aware that her purposeful mother\, a practicing physician\, has a vision for their future together: Libertie is to go to medical school and practice alongside her. But Libertie\, drawn more to music than science\, feels stifled by her mother’s choices and is hungry for something else—is there really only one way to have an autonomous life? And she is constantly reminded that\, unlike her light-skinned mother\, Libertie will not be able to pass for white. When a young man from Haiti proposes to Libertie and promises she will be his equal on the island\, she accepts\, only to discover that she is still subordinate to him and all men. As she tries to parse what freedom actually means for a Black woman\, Libertie struggles with where she might find it—for herself and for generations to come. \nInspired by the life of one of the first Black female doctors in the United States and rich with historical detail\, Kaitlyn Greenidge’s new and immersive novel will resonate with readers eager to understand our present through a deep\, moving\, and lyrical dive into our past. \n \n \n \n \n \n Event Sponsor: Captain Lew Maurer\, author of Herman and The Princess Gull\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet Our Sponsor\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet The Speakers\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Kaitlyn Greenidge’s debut novel\, We Love You\, Charlie Freeman\, was one of the New York Times Critics’ Top 10 Books of 2016 and a finalist for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize. She is the Features Director at Harper’s Bazaar and a contributing writer for the New York Times\, and her writing has also appeared in Vogue\, Glamour\, the Wall Street Journal\, and elsewhere. She is the recipient of fellowships from the Whiting Foundation\, the National Endowment for the Arts\, and the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. Libertie is her second novel. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Brooke Warner is publisher of She Writes Press and SparkPress\, president of Warner Coaching Inc.\, and author of Write On\, Sisters!\, Green-light Your Book\, What’s Your Book?\, and three books on memoir. Brooke is a TEDx speaker\, weekly podcaster (of “Write-minded” with co-host Grant Faulkner of NaNoWriMo)\, and the former Executive Editor of Seal Press. She writes a monthly column for Publishers Weekly. URL:https://sandiegowritersfestival.com/event/interview-with-kaitlyn-greenidge-author-of-libertie/ LOCATION:Virtual CATEGORIES:2022 Writers Festival,Keynote Author ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://sandiegowritersfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Greenidge_Kaitlyn.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20210731T093000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20210731T100000 DTSTAMP:20260606T004508 CREATED:20210426T163807Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210712T205955Z UID:263783-1627723800-1627725600@sandiegowritersfestival.com SUMMARY:Welcome and Spoken Word with Gill Sotu DESCRIPTION:Join us for the opening of festival day two with spoken word artist Gill Sotu and local San Diego poets sharing their work on the theme\, Poetry as Protest. Hosts Marni Freedman and Jeniffer Thompson will present a 2021 SDWF award to Chris Baron\, author of All of Me and The Magical Imperfect\, and Matt Coyle\, author of The Rick Cayhill series; Julie Slavinsky (Warwick’s La Jolla) will share her list of the most anticipated books of the year\, and\, as with day one\, we will give away books written by our 2021 speakers. Grab a cup of coffee or tea and meet us online to jump-start another day of inspiration and creativity! \n \n \n \n \n \n Event Sponsor: Ben Teeter\, author of Falling Into All\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet Our Sponsor\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet the Speakers\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Gill Sotu is a multi-faceted artist weaving poetry\, music\, soul\, humor\, and thought-provoking passion into captivating and memorable performances. He is a two-time Grand Slam Poetry Champion\, two-time Raw Performing artist of the year\, and a three-time TEDx San Diego presenter. He has opened for rap legend Talib Kweli at the San Diego Symphony. Currently\, he is a teaching artist and a commissioned playwright with The Old Globe Theatre in San Diego as well as the Artist In Residence at Makers Church. He has been commissioned to produce original pieces for leading arts and community organizations such as The San Diego Symphony\, San Diego Fashion Week\, The Unity Way of San Diego County\, Feeding America\, SD Fringe Fest\, and the San Diego Museum of Man to name a few. A magnetic performer\, Sotu uses his words and energy to bring stories to life on stage and screen and leaves audiences of all sizes entertained and inspired. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Chris Baron is the award-winning author of two Middle-Grade novels in verse\, ALL OF ME\, and THE MAGICAL IMPERFECT (2021) from Feiwel & Friends/Macmillan\, a contributor to the Young Adult Anthology\, EVERYBODY SHINES\, (2021) from Bloomsbury\, and the author of Under the Broom Tree\, (2012) from CityWorks Press as part of Lantern Tree: Four Books of Poems: winner of San Diego Book Award. He is a Professor of English at San Diego City College and the director of the Writing Center. Baron has published numerous poems and articles in magazines and journals around the country\, performed on radio programs\, and participated in many readings\, lectures\, and panels. He grew up in New York City\, but he completed his MFA in Poetry in 1998 at SDSU. He lives in San Diego with his family. He is represented by Rena Rossner from the Deborah Harris Literary Agency. Learn more about Chris.  \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Matt Coyle is the author of the best-selling Rick Cahill crime novels. He knew he wanted to be a crime writer when he was fourteen and his father gave him the simple art of murder by Raymond Chandler. He graduated with a degree in English from University of California at Santa Barbara. His foray into crime fiction was delayed for thirty years as he spent time managing a restaurant\, selling golf clubs for various golf companies\, and in national sales for a sports licensing company. \nWriting at night for over a decade his debut novel\, Yesterday’s Echo\, was finally published in 2013. The wait was almost worth it as it won the Anthony Award for Best First Novel\, the San Diego Book Award for Best Mystery\, the Ben Franklin Award for Best New Voice in Fiction. \nMatt’s second book in the Rick Cahill series\, Night Tremors\, was a Bookreporter.com Reviewers’ Favorite Book of 2015 and was an Anthony\, Shamus\, and Lefty Award finalist. \nDark Fissures (Cahill #3) was a finalist for the Macavity and Lefty awards and was a 2016 Top Pick for Bookreporter.com. Blood Truth (Cahill #4) was a Shamus finalist\, Lefty Award finalist\, a Foreword Reviews Book of the Year Silver Award winner for Thriller/Suspense\, and a top pick by Bookreporter.com for Best Mysteries of 2017. Wrong Light (Cahill #5) was a Lefty Award finalist\, a San Diego Book Award finalist\, and was nominated for a Shamus Award. It was also a top pick by Bookreporter.com for Best Mysteries of 2018. Lost Tomorrows (Cahill #6) was a winner of the Shamus Award and the Lefty Award for Best Mystery. Blind Vigil (Cahill #7) has been nominated for the Lefty\, Barry\, Macavity\, and Shamus awards. His short story\, The #2 Pencil\, was a finalist for a Derringer and Macavity Award. \nMatt lives in San Diego with his yellow Lab\, Angus\, where he is writing his eighth crime novel. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Julie Slavinsky is the Director of Events for Warwick’s Bookstore. She has been in the book business for sixteen years\, has been with Warwick’s for eleven of those\, ten of them as the Director of Events. She was born and raised in Los Angeles\, has a Bachelor of Arts degree from San Diego State University\, and has called San Diego home since 1979. Her passion is reading and connecting readers and authors. URL:https://sandiegowritersfestival.com/event/welcome-and-spoken-word-with-gill-sotu/ LOCATION:Virtual CATEGORIES:2022 Writers Festival,Poetry ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://sandiegowritersfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/SOTU_AWARDS_Warwicks.jpeg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20210717T173000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20210717T184500 DTSTAMP:20260606T004508 CREATED:20210426T153107Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210712T155756Z UID:263779-1626543000-1626547500@sandiegowritersfestival.com SUMMARY:8-Minute Agent PitchFest DESCRIPTION:Sign Up Here\n \n \n \n \n \n Writers pitching agents one-on-one in a “live” Zoom room\nParticipating agents include Elise Capron\, BJ Robbins\, and Jill Marr \nTop San Diego literary agents Elise Capron and Jill Marr (Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency) and Los Angeles-based agent BJ Robbins (BJ Robbins Literary Agency) will listen to 8-minute author pitches. Writers will be pitching agents one-on-one in a “live” private Zoom room. Writers should plan a 4-5 minute pitch\, leaving time for questions and follow-up. Feedback may be given on pitch presentation\, and successful pitches may culminate in a request for material. \nPre-registration is required. Sign-up will open on July 12 @ 9 AM (PT).  Check www.sandiegowritersfestival.com homepage for a sign-up link. \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet the Agents\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Elise Capron is an agent at the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency. In addition to handling her own list\, she oversees the daily operations of the SDLA office. She is most interested in well-written narrative non-fiction (particularly trade-friendly history\, cultural studies\, and science) as well as character-driven literary fiction. \nA graduate of Emerson College\, Elise holds a BFA in Writing\, Literature and Publishing. She has been with the Dijkstra Agency since 2003. \nElise is interested in fiction that has unforgettable writing\, a distinctive narrative voice\, and memorable characters. She loves novels with an unusual or eccentric edge and is drawn to stories she has never heard before. She aims to work with writers who are getting their work published regularly in literary magazines and who have a realistic sense of the market and their audience. Some of Elise’s representative fiction titles include Tiphanie Yanique’s upcoming Monster in the Middle (Riverhead)\, Land of Love and Drowning (Riverhead) and How to Escape from a Leper Colony (Graywolf); Howard A. Rodman’s The Great Eastern (Melville House); Courtney Brkic’s The First Rule of Swimming (Little\, Brown); Rachel Toor’s On The Road to Find Out (FSG); Jonathon Keats’ The Book of the Unknown (Random House); Rikki Ducornet’s Netsuke (Coffee House Press); Maureen McHugh’s After the Apocalypse (Small Beer Press)\, which was picked as a “Top 10 Best of the Year” by Publishers Weekly; Ali Liebegott’s The IHOP Papers (Carroll & Graf); and more. \nOn the non-fiction front\, Elise is looking for fascinating true stories told in a compelling way. She is especially interested in working with up-and-coming scholars (particularly historians) who are looking to transition from the academic market to a trade readership\, as well as journalists. Some of Elise’s representative non-fiction titles include Cynthia Barnett’s Rain: A Natural and Cultural History (Crown)\, which was long-listed for the National Book Award and the PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award; Meera Subramanian’s A River Runs Again: India’s Natural World in Crisis\, from the Barren Cliffs of Rajasthan to the Farmlands of Karnataka (Public Affairs); Jack Shuler’s The Thirteenth Turn: A History of the Noose (Public Affairs); Jonathon Keats’s You Belong to the Universe: Buckminster Fuller and the Future (Oxford University Press); Leo Braudy’s Haunted; Jane Vandenburgh’s The Wrong Dog Dream: A True Romance (Counterpoint); Billy Smith’s Ship of Death: The Voyage That Changed the Atlantic World (Yale); and more. \nPlease note that Elise is specifically not interested in: Young-adult/middle-grade\, picture books\, romance\, fantasy\, sci-fi\, business books\, cookbooks\, poetry\, religious/spiritual books\, screenplays\, or self-help. And while she will consider memoir\, please note that she is very selective in this genre. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Jill Marr is an agent at the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency. She graduated from SDSU with a BA in English with an emphasis in creative writing and a minor in history. She has a strong Internet and media background and nearly 20 years of publishing experience. She wrote features and ads for Pages\, the literary magazine for people who love books\, as well as book ads for publishing houses\, magazine pieces\, and promotional features for television. \nAfter writing ad copy and features for published books for years\, she knows how to find a project’s “hook” and sell it. Jill is looking for fiction and non-fiction by BIPOC and Latinx writers\, disabled persons\, and people identifying as LGBTQ+\, among others. She  is interested in commercial fiction\, with an emphasis on mysteries\, thrillers\, and horror\, book club\, and historical fiction. She is also looking for non-fiction by authors with a big\, timely\, smart message as well as historical projects that look at big picture issues. Jill is looking for non-fiction projects in the areas of current events\, science\, history\, narrative non-fiction\, sports\, politics\, health & nutrition\, pop culture\, humor\, music\, and very select memoir. \nSome of Jill’s recent and soon-to-be-published non-fiction includes the New York Times best-selling The Vagina Bible (Citadel Press) by Dr. Jennifer Gunter; Big Dirty Money (Viking) by Jennifer Taub; Use the Power You Have (The New Press) by Congresswoman\, Pramila Jayapal; White Women\, We Need to Talk (Sounds True) by Karen Fleshman; Keep Marching (Hachette) by Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner\, the co-founder of MomsRising; Aurora (Berkley Press) by Dr. Lynne Fenton; Ali on Ali (Workman) by the daughter of Muhammad Ali\, Hana Ali; Being Heumann (Beacon Press) by American disability activist Judith Heumann; Building a Business with a Beat (McGraw Hill) by the founder and CEO of Jazzercize\, Inc. Judi Sheppard Misset; The Trigger Trap (Chicago Review Press) by August McLaughlin and Jamila M. Dawson; Walking Through Anger (Sounds True) by Dr. Christian Conte\, the host of USA Networks’ The Secret Life of Kids; paranormal investigator Nick Groff’s Chasing Spirits (NAL);  The Tsarina’s Lost Treasure (Pegasus Books) by Gerald Easter and Mara Vorhees;  Escaping the Rabbit Hole (Skyhorse) by science writer and professional debunker Mick West; The Chosen Few (Da Capo) by USA Today writer Gregg Zoroya; Teaching Kids to Think (Sourcebooks) by Darlene Sweetland\, PhD and Ron Stolberg\, PhD; Mission High (Nation Books) by journalist Kristina Rizga; Don’t Lick the Minivan (Skyhorse) by Leanne Shirtliffe; and Spitting in the Soup (VeloPress) by Mark Johnson. \nPlease note that Jill is specifically not interested in: YA\, children’s books\, sci-fi\, screenplays\, poetry\, novellas or anything involving unicorns. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n BJ Robbins opened her Los Angeles-based agency in 1992 after a multifaceted career in book publishing in NY. She started in publicity at Simon & Schuster and was later Marketing Director and then Senior Editor at Harcourt. Her agency represents quality fiction\, both literary and commercial\, and general nonfiction\, with a particular interest in memoir\, biography\, narrative history\, pop culture\, sports\, travel/adventure\, medicine and health. \n A member of AAR and PEN America\, Ms. Robbins has led workshops at UCLA Extension\, UC Irvine Extension\, the Writer’s Pad\, and at the Squaw Valley Community of Writers Fiction Workshop. On behalf of PEN\, she has been a guest speaker in numerous cities in the West as part of their Writers Toolbox program\, including Seattle\, Portland\, Santa Fe\, Dallas\, Las Cruces\, Flagstaff\, and Oakland. She was profiled in Writer’s Digest and mediabistro.com. URL:https://sandiegowritersfestival.com/event/8-minute-agent-pitchfest/ LOCATION:Virtual CATEGORIES:2022 Writers Festival,On Publishing,On Writing ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://sandiegowritersfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/8_MINUTE_PITCHFEST.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20210717T173000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20210717T184500 DTSTAMP:20260606T004508 CREATED:20210426T152853Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210712T162240Z UID:263777-1626543000-1626547500@sandiegowritersfestival.com SUMMARY:SDWI Presents PromptFest DESCRIPTION:Community PromptFest with SDWI – hosted by SDWI writing teachers\, Rich Farrell and Tracy J. Jones \nJoin two of San Diego Writers\, Ink’s most popular teachers\, editor Tracy J. Jones\, and author Rich Farrell as they lead a fun\, interactive prompt-writing session. It’s a prompt party full of entertaining and inspiring one-liners to spark your creativity and get you writing. Have pen and paper (or a computer)\, and you’re ready to go! \n \n \n \n \n \n Event Sponsor: San Diego Writers ink\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n San Diego Writers\, Ink\, nurtures writers and fosters a literary community by \n\nServing as a hub for the literary community\nPromoting literature\nProviding artistic development for writers at all levels\, and\nFacilitating artistic collaboration\n\nLearn More \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet The Speakers\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Tracy J. Jones is a professional content writer and editor\, ghostwriter\, and copy editor with more than 25-years’ experience writing and editing for private clients\, non-profits\, and corporations. Her writing and editing clients include novelists\, screenwriters\, memoirists\, bloggers\, and self-help and nonfiction writers. Tracy is the content editor and a featured writer at TheFeistyWriter.com. She’s a head judge\, writing coach\, and co-director with the San Diego Annual Memoir Showcase. She teaches at San Diego Writers. She’s a board member of the San Diego Memoir Writers Association and has been a featured writer/performer in So Say We All’s VAMP showcase. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Richard Farrell is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and the MFA in Writing Program at Vermont College of Fine Arts. His work\, including fiction\, memoir\, essays\, interviews and book reviews\, has appeared or is forthcoming in Potomac Review\, Hunger Mountain\, New Plains Review\, upstreet\, Descant\, Contrary\, Newfound\, Numéro Cinq\, and elsewhere. His first novel\, The Falling Woman\, was recently acquired by Algonquin Books\, and will be published next year. He teaches creative writing at Grossmont College in San Diego\, where he lives with his family. URL:https://sandiegowritersfestival.com/event/sdwi-presents-writing-prompts/ LOCATION:Virtual CATEGORIES:2022 Writers Festival,On Writing ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://sandiegowritersfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Promptfest.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20210717T163000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20210717T172000 DTSTAMP:20260606T004508 CREATED:20210426T152539Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210601T190404Z UID:263775-1626539400-1626542400@sandiegowritersfestival.com SUMMARY:How to Land Your Dream Agent DESCRIPTION:Tired of hearing that your manuscript isn’t the right fit for an agent? Or worse\, radio silence to your query? \nFind out what it takes to move from the slush pile to the client list. \nIn this workshop\, author Jennifer Coburn will share how she recently changed her approach to agent hunting and found her dream representative\, who went on to sell her upcoming historical novel CRADLES OF THE REICH for six figures at auction—in ten days. \nYou’ll learn how to finetune your target list\, develop a standout query\, and choose which agent to work with when the offers start coming in. She’ll also discuss common mistakes authors make and how to avoid them. You’ll come out of this workshop with actionable steps to bring you closer to landing your dream agent. \n \n \n \n \n \n Event Sponsor: San Diego Memoir Writers Association\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Do you have a story to tell?\nSan Diego Memoir Writers Association is a community of local writers committed to the craft and business of memoir writing.  Our purpose is to create a community of inspired\, nurtured\, and educated memoirists. One of the ways in which we do this is by hosting monthly member meetings with speakers who educate our writers on both the craft and business of memoir writing. Writers of all levels are welcome and encouraged to join us to help build their own writing tribe. \nJoin Us \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet the Speaker\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Jennifer Coburn is the author of Cradles of the Reich\, a historical novel about three very different women living at a Nazi Lebensborn breeding home at the start of World War ll. \nShe has also published a mother-daughter travel memoir\, We’ll Always Have Paris\, as well as six contemporary women’s novels. Additionally\, Jennifer has contributed to five literary anthologies\, including A Paris All Your Own. \nJennifer lives in San Diego with her husband\, William. Their daughter\, Katie is currently in graduate school. When Jennifer is not going down historical research rabbit holes\, she volunteers with So Say We All\, a live storytelling organization\, where she is a performer\, producer\, and performance coach. She is also an active volunteer with Reality Changers\, a nonprofit that supports low-income high school students in becoming the first in their families to attend college. She specializes in college essay development\, interview prep\, and all-around tiger mothering. \nLearn More at https://jennifercoburn.com/ URL:https://sandiegowritersfestival.com/event/how-to-land-your-dream-agent/ LOCATION:Virtual CATEGORIES:2022 Writers Festival,On Publishing ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://sandiegowritersfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Coburn_jen_new.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20210717T151500 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20210717T161500 DTSTAMP:20260606T004508 CREATED:20210426T152221Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210630T202218Z UID:263773-1626534900-1626538500@sandiegowritersfestival.com SUMMARY:The Power of Nonfiction: How Books Can Help Us Through Life Crises DESCRIPTION:Facing a pandemic or life-threatening illness\, tackling coming-of-age issues in rapidly changing times\, getting a divorce\, losing a loved one—though life crises are universal\, people often sweep the pain under the rug and refrain from discussing its impact on our lives. For many of us\, however\, a book can be a lifeline; reading an account of another’s journey or professional advice in written form can be a saving grace.  \nJoin moderators Marni Freedman and Anastasia Hipkins for a discussion with four bold\, powerful writers who are tackling myths\, misconceptions\, and falsehoods; bravely sharing their own truths; and providing paths to acceptance\, understanding\, and healing. \nFeaturing:\n\nNancy Johnson – Things My Mama Never Told Me\nGina Simmons\, Ph.D. – Frazzlebrain\nMadonna Treadway – Eric Hoffer Award winner – author of Six Healing Questions\nSue William Silverman – Multi-award-winning author of four memoirs – author of How to Survive Death and Other Inconveniences\n\n \n \n \n \n \n Event Sponsor: Sally W. Buffington\, author of A Place Like This\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet Our Sponsor\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet the Speakers\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Marni Freedman is a screenwriter\, playwright\, award-winning author\, writing coach\, and co-founder of the San Diego Writers Festival. After graduating from USC film school\, Marni began her career bringing her play\, “Two Goldsteins on Acid\,” to the stage\, after which it was made into the film\, “Playing Mona Lisa\,” produced by Disney. She co-authored the play\, A Jewish Joke\, about a 1950s comedy writer facing the Hollywood Blacklist\, which won the NY Solo Show for best drama\, critics’ choice for the San Diego Union-Tribune\, and was recently produced Off-Broadway. Marni leads the Memoir Certificate Program for San Diego Writers\, Ink\, produces the San Diego Memoir Writers Association’s theatrical Memoir Showcase\, and is an editor of Shaking the Tree: short. brazen. memoir. She is also a writing coach and a therapist for artists and writers. Her first book\, 7 Essential Writing Tools: That Will Absolutely Make Your Writing Better (And Enliven Your Soul)\, is an Amazon Bestseller. Her second award-winning book is Permission to Roar: For Female Thought Leaders Ready to Write their Book. You can find Marni at www.marnifreedman.com\, a writing hub to help writers find their authentic voice. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Anastasia Zadeik Hipkins is a freelance writer\, editor\, and writing coach. She regularly performs in narrative non-fiction showcases\, including So Say We All’s VAMP and the San Diego Memoir Showcase\, and her work has appeared in The Literary Vine Review and Shaking the Tree. \nHaving received a BA in psychology from Smith College\, Anastasia worked for an international neuropsychological research firm before and while raising her children\, living overseas from 1991-2000. After returning stateside\, she and her family settled in the San Diego area where\, over the last nineteen years\, she has volunteered and served as a board member for a variety of nonprofit organizations dedicated to health\, education\, and the arts. She currently lives in Mission Hills with her husband and empty-nest rescue dog\, Charlie. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Nancy Johnson is a retired high school English teacher\, writer\, wife\, mother\, and grandmother. She published articles in La Mesa Courier Newspaper\, Discovering My City La Mesa Magazine\, and English Literature Journal. Her short stories appear in Sunshine Noir II (Working and Walking the Boulevard)\, Shaking the Tree II (Glass Shards)\, and Shaking the Tree III (The Sky is Falling). Her blog is Slightly Squinting. She had a blast writing and performing “The Armpit Years” for So Say We All. She volunteers for San Diego Writers Festival and San Diego Writer’s Ink. Her book\, Things My Mama Never Told Me\, will be launched in 2020. She is a student of Marni Freedman\, V.A.M.P.\, Writer’s Elements\, all the writers who have gone before her\, and the amazing teenagers who have shared their lives with her and who will remain part of her forever. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Sue William Silverman is an award-winner author of “How to Survive Death and Other Inconveniences”; “Love Sick: One Woman’s Journey through Sexual Addiction”; “Because I Remember Terror\, Father\, I Remember You”; “The Pat Boone Fan Club: My Life as a White Anglo-Saxon Jew”; and “Fearless Confessions: A Writer’s Guide to Memoir.” She teaches at Vermont College of Fine Arts. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Dr. Gina Simmons Schneider is a licensed psychotherapist\, certified coach\, corporate trainer\, and codirector of Schneider Counseling and Corporate Solutions. She has more than 25 years’ experience helping individuals\, couples\, and organizations manage difficult emotions and conflicts. Her book Frazzlebrain: Break Free from Anxiety\, Anger\, and Stress Using Advanced Discoveries in Neuropsychology\, published by Central Recovery Press\, launches February\, 2022. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Madonna Treadway was born in rural North Dakota\, the youngest of four children. Being the only girl with three older brothers and loving parents\, life seemed perfect.  Little did she know that her life would soon change drastically when both her parents died before she turned eight years old. \nStill\, life went on. Her family did not dwell on the past. In fact\, it was not really talked about at all. The feeling was that nothing could be done about the past\, so why bring it up? Best to move on and do what you can today. And so\, as a child\, Madonna learned to ignore her emotions and do what was needed without much drama. \nThis was her way of life until she reached her forties. It was at this point that she decided to explore what happened to her and how it had impacted her life. As she explored she remembered that as a child\, after the death of her parents\, she had often felt different from her peers\, like she was on the outside looking in. She didn’t tell anyone about how she felt\, because on some level\, she felt a sense of shame about feeling so different. No matter what she might have shared with anyone\, her truth was that her parents had died\, that still she had “been left.” URL:https://sandiegowritersfestival.com/event/the-power-of-nonfiction-how-books-can-help-us-through-life-crises/ LOCATION:Virtual CATEGORIES:2022 Writers Festival,On Writing ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://sandiegowritersfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/THE_POWER_OF_NONFICTION.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20210717T140000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20210717T150000 DTSTAMP:20260606T004508 CREATED:20210426T151555Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210716T001856Z UID:263768-1626530400-1626534000@sandiegowritersfestival.com SUMMARY:James Patterson and Matt Eversmann w/ Dean Nelson DESCRIPTION:Acclaimed journalist and author\, Dean Nelson\, interviews the world’s number one bestselling author\, James Patterson\, and First Sergeant US Army (Ret.) Matt Eversmann\, part of the Ranger unit portrayed in the movie Black Hawk Down\, about their new book\, Walk in my Combat Boots: True Stories from America’s Bravest Warriors.  \n“These are the stories America needs to hear about the remarkable young men and women who serve.” – Admiral William H. McRaven\, US Navy (Ret.). The most moving and powerful war stories ever told\, by the men and women who lived them. \nJoin us as we learn about the creation of this powerful collection of “brutally honest stories usually only shared amongst comrades in arms. Here\, in the voices of the men and women who’ve fought overseas from Vietnam to Iraq and Afghanistan\, is a rare eye-opening look into what wearing the uniform\, fighting in combat\, losing friends and coming home is really like. Readers who next thank a military member for their service will finally have a true understanding of what that thanks is for.”\n \n \n \n \n \n Sponsored by CORONADO PUBLIC LIBRARY with support from THE HOTEL DEL CORONADO\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet The Speakers\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n James Patterson is the world’s bestselling author and most trusted storyteller. He has created many enduring fictional characters and series\, including Alex Cross\, the Women’s Murder Club\, Michael Bennett\, Maximum Ride\, Middle School\, and I Funny. Among his notable literary collaborations are The President Is Missing\, with President Bill Clinton\, and the Max Einstein series\, produced in partnership with the Albert Einstein Estate. Patterson’s writing career is characterized by a single mission: to prove that there is no such thing as a person who “doesn’t like to read\,” only people who haven’t found the right book. He’s given over three million books to schoolkids and the military\, donated more than seventy million dollars to support education\, and endowed over five thousand college scholarships for teachers. The National Book Foundation recently presented Patterson with the Literarian Award for Outstanding Service to the American Literary Community\, and he is also the recipient of an Edgar Award and six Emmy Awards. He lives in Florida with his family. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n First Sergeant (ret) Matt Eversmann personifies the importance of duty\, courage and selfless service to succeed when ordinary circumstances become extraordinary challenges. On October 3\, 1993\, Matt was placed in charge of a group of Army Rangers to lead a daytime raid against an eager enemy militia. His inspiring story of survival was immortalized in the epic film\, Black Hawk Down\, which recounts the harrowing experience. For his actions on the battlefield he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal with Valor device. During his remaining time in uniform\, he worked at the Army War College\, taught at The Johns Hopkins University and finally deployed to Iraq where he lived with the Iraqi Army for 15 months during The Surge. He remained on active duty until May of 2008\, when he retired after 20 years of service. His frustration with the typical hiring process for veterans fueled his desire to help others avoid the “veteran’s predicament” – great servicemen and women overlooked because of the status quo. He and his wife Tori founded Eversmann Advisory in early 2018. Their mission is to connect great veterans with exceptional employers who realize their value. Represented by Keppler Speakers\, he is also a published author\, The Battle of Mogadishu\, and documentarian. His film “Send Me” will air on PBS in October 2018. He and Tori live in West Palm Beach\, Florida with their daughter and two black labs. Matt is a big fan of his Big Green Egg\, travel and is an aspiring surfer. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Dean Nelson is the founder and director of the journalism program at Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego. He writes occasionally for the New York Times\, the Boston Globe\, San Diego Magazine\, Westways\, Sojourners\, and several other national publications. He has won several awards from the Society of Professional Journalists for his reporting\, and has written or co-written 14 books. Nelson is a frequent speaker at writing workshops and retreats. \nHe has traveled throughout the world covering stories of human interest — India\, where he wrote about the slums of Bombay; Kosovo\, where he interviewed and wrote about victims of terrorism; Tanzania\, where he wrote about members of the Black Panther Party who live in exile; Tibet\, where he wrote about religious persecution; Central America\, where he wrote about poverty and contaminated water; New Orleans\, where he wrote about the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina; Haiti\, where he wrote about the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake; Iceland\, where he wrote about the literary scene there; Croatia\, where he wrote about a part of Europe that is trying to reinvent itself after the breakup of the Soviet Union; Rome\, where he wrote about the Canonization of Mother Teresa\, and elsewhere. URL:https://sandiegowritersfestival.com/event/conversation-with-james-patterson-and-matt-eversmann/ LOCATION:Virtual CATEGORIES:2022 Writers Festival,Keynote Author ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://sandiegowritersfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/2021-05-17-2.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20210717T123000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20210717T133000 DTSTAMP:20260606T004508 CREATED:20210426T151131Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210629T005057Z UID:263765-1626525000-1626528600@sandiegowritersfestival.com SUMMARY:Interview with Dr. Edith Eva Eger\, author of The Gift DESCRIPTION:Dr. Edith Eva Eger\, international bestselling author of The Choice\, about her newest New York Times bestselling book\, The Gift: 12 Lessons to Save Your Life joins the San Diego Writers Festival\, in conversation with Phyllis Olins\, award-winning conflict resolution counselor\, and author of How Not to Be a Jerk (or a Victim): Journaling from Conflict to Healthy Relationships in Eight Easy Steps. \nDr. Eger’s powerful first book The Choice told the story of her survival in the concentration camps\, her escape\, her healing\, and her journey to freedom. Oprah Winfrey says\, “I will be forever changed by Dr. Eger’s story.” Thousands of people worldwide wrote Dr. Eger to share how The Choice inspired them to confront the past and try to heal their pain—and many readers asked her to write another\, more “how-to” book. The Gift is just such a book. In it\, Dr. Eger expands on her message of healing and provides a hands-on guide that gently encourages us to change the thoughts and behaviors that may be keeping us imprisoned in the past. \nDr. Eger explains the worst prison she experienced was not the one the Nazis put her in\, but the one she created for herself—the prison within her own mind. She describes the twelve most pervasive imprisoning beliefs she has known—including fear\, grief\, anger\, secrets\, stress\, guilt\, shame\, and avoidance—and the tools she has discovered to deal with these universal challenges. Accompanied by stories from Dr. Eger’s own life and the lives of her patients\, each chapter includes thought-provoking questions and takeaways. Filled with empathy\, insight\, and humor\, The Gift captures the vulnerability and common challenges we all face and provides encouragement and advice for breaking out of our personal prisons to find healing and enjoy life. \n \n \n \n \n \n Event Sponsor: Will Cooper\, Playwright of The Book of Leaves\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet Our Sponsor\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet the Speakers\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n A native of Hungary\, Dr. Edith Eva Eger was just a teenager in 1944 when she experienced one of the worst evils the human race has ever known. As a Jew living in Nazi-occupied Eastern Europe\, she and her family were sent to Auschwitz\, the heinous death camp. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Phyllis Olins holds a master’s degree in counseling and has trained extensively in conflict mediation. She was appointed to the California State Advisory Commission for at-risk intervention and was awarded by the San Diego County of Education in May of 2009 for work in community relations. She has had over 20 years of experience in applying counseling and conflict-mediation strategies to dilemmas in all walks of life. URL:https://sandiegowritersfestival.com/event/interview-with-edith-eger-author-of-the-gift/ LOCATION:Virtual CATEGORIES:2022 Writers Festival,Keynote Author ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://sandiegowritersfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/2021-05-17-3.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20210717T111500 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20210717T121500 DTSTAMP:20260606T004508 CREATED:20210426T150742Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210630T201707Z UID:263763-1626520500-1626524100@sandiegowritersfestival.com SUMMARY:Discovering New Voices - Writing About Culture  DESCRIPTION:Join Laura Cathcart Robbins\, host of the popular podcast\, The Only One in the Room\, as she moderates an unflinching discussion about the challenges and rewards inherent in writing about culture. \n\nGabriel Bump\, author of Everywhere You Don’t Belong\nAnisha Bhatia\, author of The Rules of Arrangement\nCarlos De Los Rios\, author of Kids in Cages\nLindsey Salatka\, author of Fish Heads and Duck Skin\n\n \n \n \n \n \n Event Sponsor: The SDWF LOCAL AUTHOR PROGRAM\nAt the San Diego Writers Festival\, we are passionate about supporting writers and lifting up voices. Check out our local author spotlight for a peek at what’s happening with San Diego’s local writing talent and support local!! \nSupport our Local Authors  \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet The Speakers\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Laura Cathcart Robbins is an author\, freelance culture writer\, and host of the popular podcast\, The Only One In The Room\, living in Studio City\, California.  She has been active for many years as a speaker and school trustee and is credited for creating The Buckley School’s nationally recognized committee on Diversity\, Equity\, and Inclusion. Her recent articles in Huffpo and The Temper on the subjects of race\, recovery\, and divorce have garnered her worldwide acclaim. She is a 2018 LA Moth StorySlam winner and currently sits on the advisory board for the San Diego Writer’s Festival and the Outliers HQ podcast Festival.  Laura is also a monthly contributor for The Tempest and a founding member of Moving Forewords\, the first national memoirist collective of its kind. Find out more about her on her website\, or you can look for her on Facebook\, on Instagram\, and follow her on Twitter. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Gabriel Bump grew up in South Shore\, Chicago. He received his MFA in fiction from the University of Massachusetts\, Amherst. His debut novel\, Everywhere You Don’t Belong\, was a New York Times Notable Book of 2020 and has won the Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence\, the Great Lakes Colleges Association New Writers Award for Fiction\, the Heartland Booksellers Award for Fiction\, and the Black Caucus of the American Library Association’s First Novelist Award. Bump teaches at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Born and brought up in Mumbai\, India\, Anisha Bhatia now lives in San Diego\, California with her husband and their two children. She loves tea\, biryani\, books and beaches\, not necessarily in that order. THE RULES OF ARRANGEMENT is her first book. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Carlos de los Rios has written and published six books of prose and poetry. He is also a working filmmaker who has written/produced seven acclaimed films for Academy Award-winners Lauren Bacall and Harvey Fierstein\, Academy Award-nominee Elliot Gould\, Emmy Award-winners Johnny Galecki\, Golden Globe-nominee Hayden Panettiere as well as movie stars such as Scott Eastwood (“Texas Chainsaw 3-D”) and Josh Hutcherson (Peeta from the blockbuster hit\, “The Hunger Games”). Carlos has worked on more than 20 books\, 30 films and has written and or produced seven films. Carlos lectures throughout California and is a sought-after script doctor\, writing coach and story consultant. Carlos’ clients include top Hollywood screenwriters and New York Times best-selling writers. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Lindsey Salatka is a mother\, author\, ghost-writer\, and editor. Her writing has been featured on blogher.com\, ewriterscoach.com\, In The Loop\, Shanghai Family Magazine\, Urbanatomy: Shanghai\, and thefeistywriter.com\, where she also served as managing editor for two years. A non-fiction essay she wrote was recently chosen to be in the Shaking the Tree Anthology\, volume 3. She is on the Advisory Board of the San Diego Writers Festival and served as a judge for the KidsWrite Children’s Writing Contest in 2020. Her debut novel\, Fish Heads and Duck Skin\, will be available in the summer of 2021. She is currently in-process on several projects including a sequel to her novel and a non-fiction collection. Most nights (both pre- and during Covid) find Lindsey curled up with her family or musing about life\, love\, and culture on her blog\, fishheadology or on Instagram\, @mywhatlovelygillsyouhave. URL:https://sandiegowritersfestival.com/event/discovering-new-voices-writing-about-culture/ LOCATION:Virtual CATEGORIES:2022 Writers Festival,On Writing ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://sandiegowritersfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Writing_About_Culture.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20210717T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20210717T110000 DTSTAMP:20260606T004508 CREATED:20210426T150426Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210629T014856Z UID:263760-1626516000-1626519600@sandiegowritersfestival.com SUMMARY:Laraine Newman - May You Live In Interesting Times DESCRIPTION:Laraine Newman\, original cast member of SNL discusses her life in comedy and her experiences on SNL in her new audiobook/memoir – May You Live In Interesting Times \nListen in as festival co-founder\, Marni Freedman talks with Laraine Newman\, one of the original cast members of SNL\, about her sometimes wild\, often groundbreaking life in comedy\, her experiences on SNL\, and her new audiobook/memoir – May You Live In  Interesting Times.  \nMay You Live in Interesting Times is a warm\, funny\, heartfelt snapshot of 1970s New York City and SNL’s unexpected rocket to success\, with all the giddy headiness it entailed. Along with famous cast members John Belushi\, Dan Aykroyd\, Chevy Chase\, Jane Curtain\, Garret Morris\, and Gilda Radner\, Laraine was part of the show that changed TV—and comedy—forever. But it wasn’t all yuks and glamour. Laraine struggled with demons; she arrived in New York City with an attraction to drugs that started as a vice\, but grew to be an all-consuming addiction even as she skyrocketed to fame via her memorable characters on SNL.  \n \n \n \n \n \n Event Sponsor: Valerie Sussman\, author of Diary of an Ex-Mad Ex-Desperate Ex-Housewife\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet Our Sponsor\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet The Speakers\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Laraine Newman \nFrom growing up in Los Angeles with movie star neighbors\, bearing witness to the music scene in the 1960s and seeing the rise of comedy in the early 70s\, to studying mime in Paris under the tutelage of Marcel Marceau to becoming a founding member of the seminal comedy troupe The Groundlings\, it’s no wonder that Lorne Michaels offered Laraine Newman a spot in the original cast of Saturday Night Live.  \nThere\, along with famous cast members John Belushi\, Dan Aykroyd\, Chevy Chase\, Jane Curtin\, Garret Morris\, and Gilda Radner—Bill Murray was passed over at first and joined in a later season—Laraine was part of the show that changed TV—and comedy—forever.  \nBut it isn’t all yuks and glamor. Laraine struggled with demons. \nArriving in New York City with an attraction to drugs that started as a vice and grew to be an all-consuming addiction even as she sky-rocketed to fame via her memorable characters on SNL. \nMay You Live in Interesting Times is a warm\, funny\, heartfelt snapshot of 1970s New York City and SNL‘s unexpected rocket to success\, with all the giddy headiness that that entailed. \nAfter 5 seasons\, Laraine left SNL\, worked in movies and television\, while having adventures and relationships in Hollywood that\, in her words\, “should have gotten me killed.”  \nNow with long term sobriety\, she became a parent and reinvented herself as a voice-over actor and has a thriving career working on such animated favorites including Finding Nemo\, Monsters\, Inc.\, Despicable Me\, Inside Out\, Shrek\, and Minions. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Marni Freedman (BFA\, LMFT) is a screenwriter\, playwright\, award-winning author\, writing coach\, and co-founder of the San Diego Writers Festival. After graduating from USC film school\, Marni began her career bringing her play\, “Two Goldsteins on Acid” to the stage\, after which it was made into the film\, “Playing Mona Lisa\,” produced by Disney. She co-authored the play\, A Jewish Joke\, about a 1950s comedy writer facing the Hollywood Blacklist\, which won the NY Solo Show for best drama\, critics’ choice for the San Diego Union-Tribune\, and was recently produced Off-Broadway. Marni leads the Memoir Certificate Program for San Diego Writers\, Ink\, produces the San Diego Memoir Writers Association’s theatrical Memoir Showcase\, and is an editor of Shaking the Tree: short. brazen. memoir. She is also a writing coach and a therapist for artists and writers. Her first book\, 7 Essential Writing Tools: That Will Absolutely Make Your Writing Better (And Enliven Your Soul) is an Amazon Bestseller. Her second award-winning book is Permission to Roar: For Female Thought Leaders Ready to Write their Book. You can find Marni at www.marnifreedman.com\, a writing hub to help writers find their authentic voice. URL:https://sandiegowritersfestival.com/event/laraine-newman-may-you-live-in-interesting-times/ LOCATION:Virtual CATEGORIES:2022 Writers Festival,Comedy Writing ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://sandiegowritersfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Newman_Laraine_July17.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20210717T093000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20210717T100000 DTSTAMP:20260606T004508 CREATED:20210423T183739Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210702T005518Z UID:263748-1626514200-1626516000@sandiegowritersfestival.com SUMMARY:2021 San Diego Writers Festival Kicks Off with Spoken Word from Gill Sotu DESCRIPTION:Join us as we officially launch the 2021 San Diego Writers Festival with a celebration of words—spoken\, written\, and performed! After a brief welcome from festival cofounders\, Marni Freedman and Jeniffer Thompson\, we will start things off with beloved spoken word artist\, Gill Sotu\, who\, along with teen poet laureates\, Marissa Michel and Sasa Aakil\, and award-winning poet and author\, Tania Pryputniewicz will speak to our 2021 Theme: What the World Needs Now. We will also announce a series of book giveaways from some of our notable 2021 speakers. Come soak up the excitement\, get inspired\, discover what we have in store\, and enter to win a book! \nSpoken word poet and artist in residence with the Jacobs Center\, Gill Sotu\, along with teen poet laureates speak to our 2021 Theme: What the World Needs Now. \n \n \n \n \n \n Event Sponsor: Kathy Pease\, author of Don’t Let the Kids Bite the Dog and a generous sponsor of our KidsWrite! program\n  \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet Our Sponsor\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet the Speakers\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Gill Sotu is a multi-faceted artist weaving poetry\, music\, soul\, humor\, and thought provoking passion into captivating and memorable performances. He is a two time Grand Slam Poetry Champion\, two time Raw Performing artist of the year\, and a three time TEDx San Diego presenter. He has opened for rap legend Talib Kweli at the San Diego Symphony. Currently he is a teaching artist and a commissioned playwright with The Old Globe Theatre in San Diego as well as the Artist In Residence at Makers Church. He has been commissioned to produce original pieces for leading arts and community organizations such as: The San Diego Symphony\, San Diego Fashion Week\, The Unity Way of San Diego County\, Feeding America\, SD Fringe Fest\, and the San Diego Museum of Man to name a few. A magnetic performer\, Sotu uses his words and energy to bring stories to life on stage and screen and leaves audiences of all sizes entertained and inspired. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Jeniffer Thompson is an author branding expert\, publishing consultant\, and founder of Monkey C Media. MCM specializes in author websites\, award-winning book cover design\, book trailers\, and digital marketing tools to help authors sell more books. She is a co-founder of the San Diego Writers Festival\, serves on the board of the San Diego Memoir Writers Association\, and is the host of the Premise Podcast. Visit MonkeyCMedia.com and listen to The Premise podcast and learn more about Jeniffer’s personal branding at her website\, JenifferThompson.com. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Marni Freedman (BFA\, LMFT) is a screenwriter\, playwright\, award-winning author\, writing coach\, and co-founder of the San Diego Writers Festival. After graduating from USC film school\, Marni began her career bringing her play\, “Two Goldsteins on Acid” to the stage\, after which it was made into the film\, “Playing Mona Lisa\,” produced by Disney. She co-authored the play\, A Jewish Joke\, about a 1950s comedy writer facing the Hollywood Blacklist\, which won the NY Solo Show for best drama\, critics’ choice for the San Diego Union-Tribune\, and was recently produced Off-Broadway. Marni leads the Memoir Certificate Program for San Diego Writers\, Ink\, produces the San Diego Memoir Writers Association’s theatrical Memoir Showcase\, and is an editor of Shaking the Tree: short. brazen. memoir. She is also a writing coach and a therapist for artists and writers. Her first book\, 7 Essential Writing Tools: That Will Absolutely Make Your Writing Better (And Enliven Your Soul) is an Amazon Bestseller. Her second award-winning book is Permission to Roar: For Female Thought Leaders Ready to Write their Book. You can find Marni at www.marnifreedman.com\, a writing hub to help writers find their authentic voice. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Sasa Aakil is an 18 year old multi-media artist\, writer\, and the 2021 Montgomery County Youth Poet Laureate. She is a co-author of I Am The Night Sky and Other Reflections by Muslim American Youth and the artist behind the A Man Was Lynched Yesterday Project. Sasa is also a brown belt in Tung Su Do and a frequent maker of mistakes. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Marissa Michel served as the 2020 Prince George’s County Youth Poet Laureate. She is the recipient of multiple national gold medals for poetry in the Scholastic Arts and Writing Awards. Marissa was also a 2020 American Voice Nominee\, and the 2020 Diaz-Mattison Poetry Prize recipient. Her newest works can be found in The Rising Phoenix Review\, the Bridgewater International Poetry Festival\, Love Letters To the Mothers and Fathers of the African Diaspora\, and elsewhere. More information about her can be found on www.marissamichel.com. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n A graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop\, Tania Pryputniewicz is the author of the poetry collection November Butterfly (Saddle Road Press\, 2014) and Heart’s Compass Tarot (Two Fine Crows Books\, 2021). Recent poems appeared in America\, We Call Your Name: Poems of Resistance and Resilience\, Borderless / Bilingual\, NILVX: A Book of Magic (Tarot Series)\, Climbing Lightly Through Forests: A Poetry Anthology Honoring Ursula K. Le Guin and are forthcoming at Juked. She teaches poetry and tarot-inspired writing classes at San Diego Writers\, Ink and Antioch University’s Continuing Education program. Tania lives in Coronado\, California with her husband\, three children\, one blue-eyed Husky\, and a formerly feral cat named Luna. Her online home is: www.taniapryputniewicz.com \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Marjha Paulino originates from Tuxtepec\, Oaxaca México and currently resides in the city of Leon\, Guanajuato\, Mexico. Her first poetry collection\, Adopté un sol en la tierra\, ( I Adopted a Sun in the Land)\, was published by the editorial press El Principio del Caos\, located in Leon\, Gto. Her work also appears in a collection titled Las Avenidas del Cielo (2018)\, a collaborative publication between the University of Aguascalientes and the University of Guanajuato; and one of her poems is part of the San Diego Poetry Annual Fractal (2020-2021). Paulino’s forthcoming book\, CUENCA\, will be published this year by the Instituto Cultural de Leon. In 2020 she won the Programa de Estímulos a la Creación y Desarrollo Artístico (Program for Artistic Creation and Development) of Guanajuato in the poetry category in 2020. Marjha is co-founder of Bilingual/Borderless with poet and translator Corinne Stanley\, where she translates poetry from English to Spanish. URL:https://sandiegowritersfestival.com/event/2021-san-diego-writers-festival-kicks-off-with-spoken-word-from-gill-sotu/ LOCATION:Virtual CATEGORIES:2022 Writers Festival,Poetry ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://sandiegowritersfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/SOTU_GILL_JULY17.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20210615T170000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20210615T180000 DTSTAMP:20260606T004508 CREATED:20210602T214851Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210602T215209Z UID:264815-1623776400-1623780000@sandiegowritersfestival.com SUMMARY:BOOK CLUB: The Nine Lives of Rose Napolitano\, A Novel by Donna Freitas DESCRIPTION:Join us for the SDWF’s June Book Club!\nA Facebook Live Event. Click here to join. \n\nFeatured Book: The Nine Lives of Rose Napolitano \nRose Napolitano is fighting with her husband\, Luke\, about prenatal vitamins. She promised she’d take them\, but didn’t. He promised before they got married that he’d never want children\, but now he’s changed his mind. Their marriage has come to rest on this one question: Can Rose find it in herself to become a mother? Rose is a successful professor and academic. She’s never wanted to have a child. The fight ends\, and with it their marriage. \nBut then\, Rose has a fight with Luke about the vitamins–again. This time the fight goes slightly differently\, and so does Rose’s future as she grapples with whether she can indeed give up the one thing she thought she knew about herself. Can she reimagine her life in a completely new way? That reimagining plays out again and again in each of Rose’s nine lives\, just as it does for each of us as we grow into adulthood. What are the consequences of our biggest choices? How would life change if we let go of our preconceived ideas of ourselves and became someone completely new? Rose Napolitano’s experience of choosing and then choosing again shows us in an utterly compelling way what it means\, literally\, to reinvent a life and\, sometimes\, become a different kind of woman than we ever imagined. \nA stunning novel about love\, loss\, betrayal\, divorce\, death\, a woman’s career and her identity\, The Nine Lives of Rose Napolitano is about finding one’s way into a future that wasn’t the future one planned\, and the ways that fate intercedes when we least expect it. \n\n\n  \nAbout the Author: \nThis is Donna Freitas’s first adult novel. She is the author of Consent: A Memoir of Unwanted Attention\, as well as books for young adults. Donna has written for The Washington Post\, The New York Times\, and The Wall Street Journal\, and has appeared on NPR and the TODAY show. She’s on the faculty at Fairleigh Dickinson University’s MFA program and lives in Brooklyn and Connecticut. \nPraise for The Nine Lives of Rose Napolitano: \n“Freitas’s prose is engaging and precise\, and her what-if format proves ideal for elegantly unpacking the tensions of the plot. She balances tightly written scenes of confrontation with Rose’s poignant reflections on how much she can compromise without losing herself completely. This isn’t one to miss. “—Publishers Weekly (starred) \n“Reminiscent of Kate Atkinson’s Life After Life or the movie Sliding Doors\, Freitas’ novel explores nine (but certainly not all) possible outcomes when a woman who has never wanted children marries a man who gradually decides he does….Following the maze of numbered takes becomes an addictive game\, highly literate escapism\, like watching The Queen’s Gambit….Highly readable and provocative.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred) \n“Fans of Kate Atkinson’s Life after Life\, Liane Moriarty’s What Alice Forgot\, and the film Sliding Doors will find themselves happily lost in this charming\, heartfelt\, thought-provoking novel.”—Booklist (starred) \n“A serious yet fantastical look at relationships\, family\, and feminism told in a unique voice\, and book groups should take note. The closest readalikes are Life After Life by Kate Atkinson and Replay by Ken Grimwood.”—Library Journal (starred) URL:https://sandiegowritersfestival.com/event/book-club-the-nine-lives-of-rose-napolitano-a-novel-by-donna-freitas/ LOCATION:Virtual CATEGORIES:Book Club ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://sandiegowritersfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/SDWF-Book-Club-Donna-Feitas-iamge.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20210428T170000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20210428T181500 DTSTAMP:20260606T004508 CREATED:20210414T142405Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210415T142130Z UID:263648-1619629200-1619633700@sandiegowritersfestival.com SUMMARY:Interactive discussion and Q and A session with author\, Liese O’Halloran Schwarz DESCRIPTION:Join us for an interactive discussion and Q and A session with author\, Liese O’Halloran Schwarz. \n“This brilliant portrayal of the lives of expats and their servants is also a suspenseful mystery with ever-darkening twists. For fans of A Little Life and The Goldfinch.” —People\, Book of the Week \nWashington\, DC\, 2019: Laura Preston is a reclusive artist at odds with her older sister Bea as their elegant\, formidable mother slowly slides into dementia. When a stranger contacts Laura claiming to be her brother who disappeared forty years earlier when the family lived in Bangkok\, Laura ignores Bea’s warnings of a scam and flies to Thailand to see if it can be true. But meeting him in person leads to more questions than answers. \nBangkok\, 1972: Genevieve and Robert Preston live in a beautiful house behind a high wall\, raising their three children with the help of a cadre of servants. In these exotic surroundings\, Genevieve strives to create a semblance of the life they would have had at home in the US—ballet and riding classes for the children\, impeccable dinner parties\, a meticulously kept home. But in truth\, Robert works for American intelligence\, Genevieve finds herself drawn into a passionate affair with her husband’s boss\, and their serene household is vulnerable to unseen dangers in a rapidly changing world and a country they don’t really understand. \nAlternating between past and present as all of the secrets are revealed\, What Could Be Saved is an unforgettable novel about a family shattered by loss and betrayal\, and the beauty that can exist even in the midst of brokenness. URL:https://sandiegowritersfestival.com/event/interactive-discussion-and-q-and-a-session-with-author-liese-ohalloran-schwarz/ LOCATION:Virtual CATEGORIES:Book Club ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://sandiegowritersfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/what_could_be_saved.jpg END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR