Organized and sponsored by the nonprofit Eastern Shore Writers Association, the Bay to Ocean Writers Conference (BTO) is dedicated to providing first-rate educational sessions and inspirational tips across a variety of writing genres. Choose a track to follow, or mix it up and select sessions that are just right for you! | This year’s keynote speaker is Grace Cavalieri and features six tracks with thirty-one sessions to help writers develop their craft, edit, publish, and market their writing. The sessions, all 50-minutes in length, are carefully designed to help attendees generate solid writing, hone their craft, and ask pointed questions of published and award-winning presenters about the process. |
About Keynote Speaker: |
GRACE CAVALIERI was Maryland’s tenth Poet Laureate. Her new book is The Long Game, Poems Selected & New (The Word Works.) She founded and still produces “the Poet and the Poem” for public radio, now from the Library of Congress, celebrating 47 years on-air.
Among other awards she holds two Allen Ginsberg Awards and the CPB Silver Medal. She’s an Academy of American Poets Fellow. She’s written 26 books of poems and plays produced on American stages. Women in history are her specialty and the last play produced was Quilting The Sun about ex-slave quilt-maker Harriet Powers. It was staged in 2017 in New York City.
The last 25 years of her podcasts have been sent to the moon on Lunar Codex.
Early-Bird Rates: through January 15th, 2024 | Regular Rates: January 16th – March 8th |
ESWA members must be logged in to the website to receive the member discount.
Thirty-One Sessions to Choose from! |
FICTION Using Joseph Campbell's ˜Hero Cycle" to Create Character and to Develop Plot Be Be a Plotter AND a Pantser – Plan Your Novel So It’s Easy to Write! Calm and Chaos: Mastering the Art of Narrative Tension He Said, She Said: The Art of Writing Dialogue Navigating the Literary Landscape to Land on the Editor's Desk with a Yes! POETRY
Special Session: Poetic Yoga Fruitful Frustration and Resistance: the Energy of Poetic Constraints Braiding Voices: A Collaborative Generative Workshop How to Get Out of Your Way and Let the Poem Have Its Say Getting Unstuck: Experimental Poetic Form & Technique The Poetry of Migration NON-FICTION No Red Bows: How to End an Essay (or any work, really) Meaningfully, Honestly, and “Perhaps" Openly Is Your Nonfiction Book Naked? Maybe It Needs an Index... From Memories to Memoir Navigating Trauma in Memoir How to Write a Braided Essay | CRAFT / EDITING Spells or Newscasts? Bronco Poetics: How to Ride Line Breaks Deeper into the Narrative Process The Art of the Critique: It's Not Rocket Science; It's MUCH Tougher Than That Familiar History: Using Family Stories and Hands-On Research to Bring the Past Alive The Tales, the Traumas, the Beauty, the Poetry and the Music of Ireland PUBLISHING / MARKETING / PROMOTION Personal Brand Strategy for Writers Stop Struggling With Social Media - Everything You Need to Know to Harness the Power of the Internet Making Money As a Freelance Writer Let's Chat About AI: How Is AI Impacting Writers and Publishers Are you Publicist Ready? SPECIALTY / INSPIRATION Facing Your Writing Fears A Place to Stand: Staying Grounded in the Writing Life The Disappearing Bookshelf: Why You Should Write Kidlit in the Era of Book Challenges Archetypes, Metaphors, and Mental Musings – How Do Your Writing Ideas Manifest? Art at Night (but During the Day): Ekphrastic Writing |
PLEASE NOTE: |
Highlights from the 2023 Bay to Ocean Writers ConferenceSaturday, March 4th, 2023 was dedicated to providing first-rate educational sessions and inspirational tips across a variety of writing genres. Featuring six tracks with thirty sessions helping
writers develop their craft, edit, publish and market their writing. The 2023 conference included a keynote by Mariah Burton Nelson. Learn all about last year’s sessions by viewing the full Program PDF at the link below. 2023 Conference Program PDF |