 The 2009 GCACWT Conference will take place April 3rd and 4th, 2009, at the Baldwin Campus of the University of South Alabama in Fairhope, AL. Check in will start at 8 A.M. on the 3rd. Readings and panels will take place throughout the day, 9-5 Friday and Saturday. On Friday evening there will be a Mexican-style dinner from 5:45-8:45 P.M. at the Fairhope American Legion Hall overlooking Mobile Bay. The Mexican-style dinner will be sponsored by the Alabama Writers Forum.
Legion Hall, photo by Jeanie Thompson.
For information about signing up to read or joining an "open" panel, please go to our Conference Registration page. _________________________________________________________________________________________________ This year the conference will have three Featured Speakers:
 Joel Brouwer is the author of three books of poems, Exactly What Happened, Centuries, and And So. His poems, essays, and reviews have appeared in AGNI, Boston Review, Crazyhorse, Gettysburg Review, Massachusetts Review, The New York Times Book Review, Paris Review, Parnassus, Ploughshares, Poetry, The Progressive, Tin House, Washington Post Book World, and other publications. He has held fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing, and the Mrs. Giles Whiting Foundation. He lives in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and teaches at the University of Alabama.
 Jeanne Leiby graduated from the University of Michigan, earned her MA from the Bread Loaf School of English/Middlebury College, and her MFA from the University of Alabama. Her stories have appeared in Fiction, New Orleans Review, Greensboro Review, Indiana Review among other magazines. Her collection of short stories title Downriver, winner of the Doris Bakwin Prize from Carolina Wren Press, was published in fall 2007. Jeanne is the editor of The Southern Review and associate professor of English at Louisiana State University.
 Lu Vickers received her Ph. D. in Creative Writing at Florida State University, where she was a Kingsbury Fellow. She has published essays and short stories in numerous magazines such as Salon.com and Apalachee Review. She has been awarded three Individual Artist’s Fellowships from the State of Florida, most recently for “The Natural History of a Mermaid,” an excerpt from her latest novel. In 2007, she published two books, Breathing Underwater, a novel, and Weeki Wachee, City of Mermaids, a History of One of Florida’s Oldest Roadside Attractions. Her history of another roadside attraction, Cypress Gardens: The Swami and his Swamp, or How One Man Invented Florida is due out from the University Press of Florida in 2010.
_______________________________________________ DRAFT Five, March 31, 2009 18th Annual GCACWT Conference in Fairhope, Alabama Friday, April 3rd
8am-9am Main Room: REGISTRATION "Opening Remarks"
---------- (Fri. Apr. 3) 9am-10am Main Room: REGISTRATION AND BOOK FAIR
Session A 1. Alexander Perry (f) (U of A) 2. Dionne Irving (f) (G St.U) (chair) 3. Casey Whitworth (f) (TCC)
Session B 1. Janet Nodar (f) (chair) 2. Danny Goodman (UNO) (f) 3. Sonya Bennett (p)
Session C 1. TBA 2. TBA 3. TBA
Session D Panel 1: Creative Writing Pedagogy Panel: Part I. Anita Garner (UNA) & Laura Valeri (G Southern U) (co-chairs), C. D. Mitchell (U of A), Jillian Koopman (FSU)
---------- (Fri. Apr. 3) 10am-11am Main Room: Registration and Book Fair
Session A 1. James Claffey (f) (LSU) 2. Jillian Koopman (f) (FSU) 3. Mark Fitten (f) (GPC) (chair)
(10am-11am--April 3, Friday) Session B 1. C. D. Mitchell (nf) (U of A) 2. Thomas Kesler (p) (UCF) (chair) 3. Corina Calsing (UNO) (f)
Session C 1. Laura Valeri (f/nf) (G.So.U.) (chair) 2. Randy Bates (nf) (UNO) 3. Frank Giampietro (p) (FSU)
Session D Panel 2: The Beginning Fiction Workshop: Steering Clear of Bad Dialogue, Zombie Cowboys, Student Tears, and Cheap Group Therapy. Karen Gentry (GSU) (chair), Kristen Gottstein (GSU), Dionne Irving (GSU), Liane Lemaster (GSU)
----- (Fri. Apr. 3) 11am-noon Main Room: "Awards Announcements" and FEATURED SPEAKER: LU VICKERS
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noon-1:30pm LUNCH BREAK
----- (Fri. Apr. 3) 1:30pm -2:30pm Main Room: FEATURED DISCUSSION Session: The Editor/Writer Relationship: Jeanie Thompson (AWF) (chair), Kirk Curnutt (River City Publishing), Jim Gilbert (River City Publishing), Lynne Knight (Anhinga Press), Jeanne Leiby (The Southern Review), -----
(Fri. Apr. 3) 2:30pm-3:30pm Main Room: Registration and Book Fair
Session A 1. Deborah Hall (nf) (VSU) 2. Jeff Newberry (p) (ABAC) (chair) 3. Meri Culp (p) (TCC)
(2:30pm-3:30pm--April 3, Fri.) Session B 1. Biljana Obradovic (p) (XU) (chair) 2. Erin Trauth (f) (USF) 3. Carol McCarthy (UNO) (p)
Session C 1. Joanna Leake (f) (UNO) (chair) 2. Frederick Barton (f) (UNO) 3. Lynne Barrett (f) (FIU)
Session D Panel 3: "Making a Living After/During/Before the MFA or PhD, Including the Full-time Teaching Gig . . . Or Not." Leonard Nash (freelance writer) (chair), Janet Nodar (Journal of Commerce), Minnie Lamberth (freelance writer), Reneé H. Reynolds (UWF), Doug Moon (UWF), Nickalus Rupert (UWF) ------
(Fri. Apr. 3) 3:30pm-4:30pm Main Room: Registration and Book Fair
Session A 1. Liane LeMaster (f) (GSU) (chair) 2. Missy Bowen (UNO) (nf) 3. Karen Gentry (f) (G St. U)
Session B 1. Leonard Nash (f) 2. Jesse Millner (p) (FGCU) 3. Sue Walker (p) (USA) (chair)
Session C Panel 4: "Poetry, Poets, and the Collapsing Economy: Are They Related?" John Gery (UNO) (chair), Biljana Obradovic (XU), Michael Trammell (FSU)
Session D Panel 5: College Literary Magazines (which serve the campus community, i.e., small, student-edited magazines), especially, but not limited to, the pedagogical side of advising a small magazine. Jeff Newberry (ABA College) (chair), Erin Trauth (USF), Chad Faries (SSU), Jim Miller (USF), Daryl Brown (UNA) --------------
(Fri., April 3) 4:30-5:30pm Main Room: Registration and Book Fair
Session A 1. Dominika Wrozynski (p) (FSU) (chair) 2. Christine Poreba (p) 3. Jen McClanaghan (p) (FSU)
Session B 1. Mary Cleverdon (p) (chair) 2. UNO MFA Candidate (p) 3. Bob Whetstone (f)
Session C 1. Erin Grauel (UNO) (nf) 2. Andrea Barton (p) (U of A) 3. Jon Fink (p) (UWF) (chair)
Session D Panel 6: Book Arts, Book Making, Chapbooks and DIY Publishing. Jay Snodgrass (Bainbridge College) (chair), Lynne Barrett (FIU), John Wang (FSU), Scott Sweeney, Frank Giampietro (FSU) ------
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5:45 pm - 8:45 pm RECEPTION--AUTHENTIC MEXICAN-STYLE DINNER AT THE LEGION HALL (for those who have pre-paid by the deadline)
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Saturday, April 4th 8am-9am Main Room: Registration and Book Fair Session A Panel 7: Submitting to Journals & Small Presses. Featuring editors from Juked (John Wang) (chair), Apalachee Review (Mary Jane Ryals), Excalibur Press (Linda B. Parker), CaKe (Kristine Snodgrass), The Panhandler (Jon Fink), MindBridge Press (Edward Garner), Southeast Review, Mississippi Review, River City Publishing, Bayou, Lousiana Literature, etc. ------------
(Sat. Apr. 4) 9am-10am Main Room: Registration and Book Fair
Session A 1. Peter Huggins (p) (AU) (chair) 2. Louie Skipper (p) 3. Lynne Knight (p)
Session B 1. Kerri Quinn (f) (NAU) 2. Jennifer Stewart (nf) (UNO) (chair) 3. Bill Lavender (p) (UNO)
Session C 1. Amy Monticello (nf) (U of A) (chair) 2. Lindsay M. Walker (p) (USM) 3. Justin Anderson (nf) (FSU)
Session D Panel 8: Creative Writing Pedagogy Panel: Part II. C.D. Mitchell (U of Ala) & Deborah Hall (VSU) (co-chairs), Ira Sukrungruang (USF), Patti White (U of A) ----------------
10am-11am (Sat., April 4) Main Room: Registration and Book Fair
Session A 1. Jim Miller (f) (USF) 2. Ira Sukrungruang (nf) (USF) (chair) 3. Jay Hopler (p) (USF)
Session B 1. John Gery (p) (UNO) (chair) 2. Jeanie Thompson (p) (AWF) 3. Kirk Curnutt (f)
Session C 1. Kevin Brown (f) (U of A) 2. Robert Gray (p) (USA) (chair) 3. Patti White (p) (U of A)
Session D Panel 9: Marketing Yourself as A Writer (addressing both poetry and prose). Jennifer Stewart (UNO) (chair), Bill Lavender (UNO), Lish McBride, Amanda Boyden, and Bill Loehfelm -----------------
(Sat. Apr. 4) 11am-noon Main Room: FEATURED SPEAKER: JOEL BROUWER
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noon-1:30pm LUNCH BREAK
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(Sat. Apr. 4) 1:30pm -2:30pm Main Room: FEATURED SPEAKER: JEANNE LEIBY
-------------------- -------------------- 2:30-3:30pm (April 4, Sat.) Main Room: Registration and Book Fair
Session A 1. Robbi Pounds (nf) (XU) (chair) 2. Ashley Harris (f) (FSU) 3. Rose Bunch (f) (FSU)
Session B 1. Scott Sweeney (p) 2. Sarah Grieve (p) (FSU) (chair) 3. John Wang (f) (FSU)
Session C 1. Susan Lilley (p) (RC) (chair) 2. Phil Deaver (f) (RC) 3. Juliella Parsons (f) (U of A)
Session D Panel 10: The Effective Creative Writing Assignment: The View from Both Sides of the Desk. Jay Hopler (USF) (chair), Katherine Riegel (USF), Jared White (USF), Bryan Rice (USF), Brandon Pettit (USF), David Moody (USF) -------------------- (Sat. Apr. 4) 3:30-4:30pm Main Room: Book Fair
Session A 1. Jeremy Tuman (nf) (XU) (chair) 2. David Moody (p) (USF) 3. Vallie Lynn Watson (f) (USM)
Session B 1. Jason Tucker (nf) (JC) (chair) 2. Kristine Snodgrass (p) (FAMU) 3. Jay Snodgrass (p) (BC)
Session C Panel 11: Organizing a Reading Series: Highs & Lows and Do's & Don'ts. Kevin Brown (U of A) (chair), Michael Trammell (FSU/Apalachee Review), James Claffey (LSU), Rose Bunch (FSU), John P. Travis (Portals Press)
Session D Panel 12: Power of the Personal Essay: Readings from Christmas Is A Season 2008 from Excalibur Press. Linda Busby Parker (chair), C.D. Mitchell, Dee Jordan, Cecelia Redmond, and Mahala Church. --------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------- (Sat. Apr. 4) 4:30pm-5:30pm Main Room: Closing Remarks and Business Meeting
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