+20 Global Writing Conferences You Need to Know

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Why attend a writers’ conference? The simple answer: it will help your writing career. At a writers’ conference, you get to learn from other authors through lectures and panels as well as meet top literary agents to help you achieve your dream of being published. Networking is a must in this field, and attending a writers’ conference is a good place to start. Check out our list of conferences below to get started—and for more help with book marketing, editing, and preparing your manuscript for publication, check out our services for authors.

AFCC Writers & Illustrators Conference

General focus: Asian children’s books
Description: The Writers & Illustrators Conference gathers writers, illustrators, and publishing industry professionals to share, network, and celebrate children’s content from Asia and around the world. Learn more.
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PWAC Conference

General focus: Writers’ professional development
Description: Every year, the PWAC organizes a conference to provide members with professional development, networking, and social opportunities for writers. Learn more.

Newcastle Writing Conference

General focus: Aspiring/new writers
Description: Newcastle Writing Conference is a must-attend event for aspiring and early career writers looking to promote their work, network with fellow writers, and understand more about the publishing industry. Learn more.

OnWords & AGM

General focus: Canadian writers
Description: Writers from across the country will gather in beautiful downtown Vancouver at Simon Fraser University’s Harbour Centre for a stimulating and productive weekend centred on the theme “Writing the World Now.” Learn more.

Sozopol Seminars

General focus: Nonfiction writers’ seminar
Description: The seminar program consists of intensive daily creative nonfiction workshops, roundtable discussions, guest lectures, and readings by faculty and participants. Learn more.

Writing Workshops in Greece: Thessaloniki & Thasos

General focus: Workshops in Greece
Description: Options are two-week and one-month workshops in Thessaloniki and on the island of Thasos, focusing on three genres as well as instruction in Greek language and culture. Learn more.

Women Reading Aloud Greece Writing Retreat

General focus: Women writers’ workshops
Description: Founded in New Jersey in 2003, the retreat offers writing workshops modeled after the Amherst Writers & Artists Method, with author series, works-in-progress series, writing and yoga programs, and conferences and retreats where women writers can explore their authentic voices. Learn more.
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Dublin Writers’ Conference

General focus: Improving publishing
Description: This conference will help you improve your writing craft, self-publish successfully, and plan the marketing necessary for any author to achieve success, whether traditionally published or self-published. Learn more.

DISQUIET

General focus: International writers’ workshops
Description: The DISQUIET International Literary Program is a two-week program that brings writers from North America and from around the world together with Portuguese writers in the heart of Lisbon for intensive workshops in the art and craft of writing. Learn more.

Paris Café Writing

General focus: Nonfiction/creative writing
Description: A one-week seminar in Paris, France. You will write in the mornings in small cafes, share many great meals, enjoy walks and top-notch jazz, and spend time alone. The seminar caters to both nonfiction and creative writing. Learn more.

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Swanwick Writers’ Summer School

General focus: Writing improvement
Description: If you love writing, then Swanwick offers you the opportunity to learn new skills, hone existing ones, explore your creativity, make new friends, perform your poetry, sing, act, dance, laugh, or even write. Learn more.

Melbourne Writers Festival

General focus: Global writers
Description: MWF brings together writers from around the world to celebrate literature, explore ideas, and inspire readers. Each year we invite our audience to be challenged, to be entertained, to learn, and to be inspired through a buzzing program of storytelling, conversation and discussion, intellectual debate, educational programs, live performance, and music and art events. Learn more.

Milford SF Writers’ Conference

General focus: Speculative fiction writers
Description: Each year a small group of published writers of speculative fiction get together for one special week in a secluded residential location in beautiful Snowdonia, North Wales, to critique work, discuss ideas, and generally connect with other writers. Note: Speculative fiction includes science fiction, fantasy, and all their subgenres. Learn more.

Bread Loaf

General focus: Sicily-based conference
Description: The seventh annual Bread Loaf in Sicily Conference is an intensive seven-day writers’ conference held in Erice, an ancient hilltop town on the western coast of Sicily. Featuring five workshops with six participants in each group, the conference provides a small group of writers with a concentrated and personalized Bread Loaf experience. Learn more.

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InScribe Christian Writers’ Fellowship Fall Conference

General focus: General writing
Description: The fall conference gives writers an opportunity to come together for inspiration and motivation and to learn more about the craft of writing. Each year, InScribe features a seasoned author as the conference keynote speaker and offers a variety of workshop topics and presenters. Learn more.

Italy, in Other Words

General focus: Writer retreats
Description: Italy, in Other Words offers retreats located in Italy’s authentic past, where Italian culture is carefully preserved. They specialize in small groups so each writer can receive focused instruction and support. Learn more.

Wordfest

General focus: Calgary’s readers and writers
Description: Wordfest sparks lively, illuminating, and meaningful conversations between Calgary’s readers and the world’s most engaging writers. Wordfest’s trademark events include readings, workshops, panel discussions, and in-school presentations from authors writing in every genre and for all ages. Learn more.

Vancouver Writers Fest

General focus: General authors
Description: With seven days, 100+ authors, and 90+ events, the festival celebrates the power of books with local, international, award-winning, and up-and-coming authors. Learn more.

Surrey International Writers’ Conference

General focus: General authors
Description: SIWC offers writers in all genres, from beginners to experts, the opportunity both to hone their craft and to expose their work to the international literary marketplace. Learn more.
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Ottawa International Writers Festival

General focus: Ottawa writers
Description: A biannual event that celebrates ideas to recharge the imaginations of attendees. From politics to poetry, science to music, history to thrillers, Ottawa International Writers Festival celebrates the full diversity of the word and the gifted writers who guide our exploration of the world. Learn more.

London Book Fair

General focus: Global publishers’ marketplace
Description: The London Book Fair is the global marketplace for rights negotiation and the sale and distribution of content across print, audio, TV, film, and digital channels. Staged annually, the LBF sees more than 25,000 publishing professionals arrive in London for the week of the fair to learn, network, and kick off their year of business. Learn more.

Self-Publishing Conference

General focus: Self-publishing authors
Description: The Self-Publishing Conference is the UK’s only dedicated self-publishing event, offering authors a chance to find out about a wide range of publishing options, to hear from and question those who work within the thriving self-publishing world, and to network with fellow authors, many of whom will already be experienced self-publishers. Learn more.

Geneva Writers’ Conference

General focus: General writers/publishers
Description: Geneva Writers’ Conference welcomes writers from around the world to a weekend of workshops and panels led by authors, agents, editors, and publishers from Italy, Switzerland, the UK, and the US. The program includes writing workshops in fiction, theater, nonfiction, and poetry as well as panels in publishing. Learn more.

Cuenca International Writers Conference

General focus: English/Spanish workshops
Description: This conference will feature workshops and training sessions for every writer, from novice to expert, in all genres. Stellar presenters will offer learning opportunities in English and Spanish. Learn more.

Writers’ conferences offer networking, career, and learning opportunities for writers in all stages of their journeys, from new to published. Interested in more ways to take your writing career to the next level? ProofreadingServices.com offers author services to help with editing, marketing, and even landing an agent or publisher.
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