Planning a conference is a gargantuan task. So many details to figure out – finding the perfect venue, picking dates that don’t conflict with major holidays or events, selecting food and arranging the tech details, raising funds, choosing speakers with innovative ideas that match topics on the mind of attendees, deciding on swag, coordinating publicity. The to-do list goes on and on.
We started the planning process last September with a committee of about 20 volunteers led by Patricia Pin and Morgan Sheehan. We visited community colleges in Berkshire, Hampden and Franklin counties and found our perfect venue in Greenfield Community College and a workable date of October 18, 2025. Committees started working on sponsorships and grant applications, program, publicity and promotion, and agent meetings.
Our keynote speaker, Franny Choi, will launch the day’s activities. They are a poet and essayist, award-winning author of several books, many magazine pieces, on the Faculty in Literature at Bennington College, and the founder of Brew & Forge. Their work is a perfect match for the theme of this year’s conference: “Through the Thicket of Thorns, Stories Grow.” This theme comes from a quote from author Tiffany Yates Martin:
“Story’s noble purpose is to get to the heart of some of the deepest and most complicated human emotions. To forge a path through the thickest of thorny ideas. To reflect and hopefully shed light on our society, human nature, and readers’ lives. You are the storytellers. You have the power to affect the world no matter how small or grand your story.”
We put out a call for proposals for conference sessions, hoping to cover a wide range of topics in four major categories: craft, the business and mechanics of writing, teaching writing, and literary activism/resistance. In these challenging times, we are especially interested in sessions that explore writing as a tool for resilience, justice, and forging connections despite current polarization, fear, and repression. We’re looking for workshops that teach and amaze, that connect and inspire us. Writers are invited to propose workshop sessions by completing this form before May 15, 2025.
So, that’s where we are now. We hope to have the program set late spring and open registration this summer. And, most of all, we hope to see you at the conference on October 18!