40 | The Writer • May 2020
CONFERENCE INSIDER
BY MELISSA HART
F
our hours north of San Fran-
cisco, the coastal community
of Mendocino welcomes best-
selling authors and poets –
along with writers just starting out – at
an annual summer conference. Direc-
tor Lisa Locascio first attended the
event in 2012 as a scholarship student.
The beauty and intimacy of the loca-
tion captivated her, enticing her to
return again and again.
“Some conferences can feel over-
whelming and impersonal, but this one
is small and accessible,” she says. “People
with MFA degrees attend with people
taking their first workshop. The event
offers a combination of world-class liter-
ary figures, incredible writing, and a
small-town, congenial environment.”
It also offers stellar views of the
Pacific Ocean dotted with craggy sea-
stacks, plus numerous opportunities to
hike and bicycle and kayak if confer-
ence participants decide to extend
their stay. Conference workshops,
afternoon readings and critiques, and
evening open mics encourage writers
to learn and network over three days.An optional day-long Publishing Boot-
camp provides crucial information to
those who are ready to launch their
work into the world.What you’ll learn
Attendees at the Mendocino Coast
Writers’ Conference will learn how to
establish character, setting, and theme
in first chapters, and how to integrate
stylistic elements into a narrative of
any length. Workshops provide writers
instruction on how to craft speculative
and historical fiction, as well as how toMendocino Coast
Writers’ Conference
Emerging writers brush elbows with established authors at this
intimate California conference.Participants at a nonfiction workshop taught by Ismail Muhammad pose at MCWC 2019.
PhotosbyMimiCarroll