Montgomery County Community College’s Annual Writers Conference will be held on Nov. 6-7 in the Science Center Theater, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. It will feature a keynote presentation by Maxine Hong Kingston, author of The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts. Conference workshops by distinguished writers will include sessions on novel, short story, playwriting, poetry, writer’s block, journalism, comics, and children’s literature. The event will also feature a hospitality center, an agents panel, and individual appointments with agents. For information, visit www.mc3.edu/writersconf.
Kingston’s keynote presentation will take place on Friday, Nov. 6, at 7:30 p.m. followed by a book signing a book signing. The keynote will be simulcast to the College’s West Campus in Pottstown. Both venues are open to the public, and tickets cost $15 in Blue Bell. For information and tickets, call 215-641-6518 or visit www.mc3.edu online.
Writing for over three decades, Maxine Hong Kingston is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters: National Book Foundation (2008), the PEN West Award in Fiction (1989), National Endowment for the Arts Writers Award (1982 and 1980), the Anisfield-Wolf Race Relations Award (1978), and the General Nonfiction Award: National Book Critics Circle (1976).
Kingston has been credited with "bringing Chinese-Americans into American literature" with her autobiographical novels The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts (1976) and China Men (1980). In addition to her two books of autobiography, she has written a novel, poems, short stories, and articles for magazines and journals. Her collection of twelve prose sketches, Hawai'i One Summer, was published in a limited edition with original woodblock prints and calligraphy in 1987. Most recently, Kingston has edited Veterans of War, Veterans of Peace (2006), an epic work of nonfiction, fiction, and poetry written by a community of veterans and survivors looking to heal the pain of war through art.
The conference continues on Saturday, Nov. 7 with publishing agent meetings for pre-registered attendees, a panel discussion on working with an agent, and workshops on the pragmatic issues related to writing across a range of genres for various markets.
Registration for all Friday and Saturday events costs $95 when postmarked by Oct. 23. A discount is available for pre-registered senior citizens, Montgomery County Community College staff, and Montgomery County Intermediate Unit staff. An additional discount is available for MCCC and MCIU students.
The conference is being organized by coordinator and faculty member Dr. Harold William Halbert, with assistant faculty coordinators Dana Resente and Diane McDonald. The event is sponsored by the College’s Humanities Division, with support from the Office of Academic Affairs, the Office of Cultural Affairs, and local sponsors.
Conferees may register by mail or by phone. Additional details are available at www.mc3.edu/writersconf, by calling the 215-619-7422 or by emailing writersconf@mc3.edu.
