My Writing Convention Weekend

Convention Planning Committee

This past weekend was the Kansas Authors Club state convention held in Salina, KS Friday evening through Sunday afternoon. Each year a different district is responsible for planning the event. The photo above is the committee of four that spent two years planning and preparing. Kansas Authors Club is the oldest running writing group in our state. 

Despite a few hiccups, it turned out just fine. I heard glowing comments about all the speakers I'd found to conduct various workshops. We were treated to a poetry workshop given by our Kansas Poet Laureate, one on biography, another on writing personal essays. Two workshops addressed aspects of writing fiction, another focused on research and historical nonfiction. Writing YA and respecting cultural differences was yet another interesting workshop as was one on writing memoir. The woman who spoke on journaling is a certified journalist. I had no idea one could be certified in this field. She brought journaling to life as did a panel of three who fascinated their audience with the world of songwriting. One final workshop was about the benefits of blogging for writers and how to do it.(Guess who taught that one?) 

There was a lot of learning, a good bit of socialization and, best of all, writers connecting with other writers. Awards for books nominated for various categories were announced at the Saturday evening banquet and winners for the 2018 state writing contest announced at the luncheon on Sunday. I'm pleased to say that I won first place in the Japanese form in the Poetry Division with a haiku. 

The early part of Saturday afternoon was devoted to Youth Writing Awards. I watched the children come forward to receive their medals and certificates and checks, in some cases. I could sense the joy inside each one, although they tried to keep a cool demeanor as they accepted their awards and went back to sit with proud parents.

Members who have written books had an opportunity to sell them in the Book Room all weekend. I had a hard time selecting one to purchase. I ended up with a new volume of poetry by Roy Beckemeyer, a favorite poet who has done guest posts for me in the past. The title of the book is Stage Whispers and I'm anxious to read it. A workshop presenter gifted me with his book because I had helped with some editing on it this summer. An interview with him and a review on the book will come later this fall. I brought one more book home. A woman who had attended my workshop on blogging gave it to me and asked if I'd review it on my blog. I told her I'd be happy to do so but with the thought that I could not promise a 5 star review. It would be my honest opinion. "That's what I want," she told me. Looks like I have some reading to do. 

Planning a convention is a lot of work but satisfying when you see how the writers enjoyed their time together and benefited from the workshops offered. Most writers have a convention or conference on writing somewhere close enough for them to attend. I highly recommend it.