The Sanibel Island Writers Conference has not been held on Sanibel Island for a few years, thanks to damage from Hurricane Ian and the Covid-19 pandemic. But this year it will be held nearby, at Florida Gulf Coast University, and is open to everyone, for free. Co-director of the festival Tom DeMarchi is issuing a wide invitation.

“We’re hoping anybody who’s interested in writing will attend, who’s in the area. And that includes anybody from campus, anybody from the community, certainly anybody even visiting the area for the weekend,” DeMarchi said.

The conference begins Friday November 7 at 6 PM with a keynote address. Courses runall day Saturday and topics include poetry, essays, flash fiction, and TV writing.

DeMarchi hopes that the workshops will help demystify the writing process.

“I think we’ve done a really good job of continuing to create a writing community where everyone feels welcome, and where everyone seems to walk away with a sense of satisfaction that they’ve actually learned something and they feel newly invigorated about their writing projects, and their capacity for doing it,” he said.

Register here. The web site also describes the courses and the teachers’ backgrounds. You’ll get a parking pass here, and you’ll need one for each day.

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