Conference showcases IU writers

IU’s 74th annual Writers’ Conference has drawn participants from around the world.

This year’s conference started earlier this week and will continue through Friday.

“The conference started in 1940 by Herman B Wells and Cecila Hendrickson from the English department,” Director Bob Bledsoe said. “It is one of the longest running conferences in the country.”

The conference is important because it gives writers who work every day a chance to take a break and spend a week with their art, Bledsoe said.

“We bring in visiting faculty and writers who are some of the best writers working today, who are excellent teachers,” Bledsoe said.

Participants learn how to improve their writing through a variety of classes and workshops.

“We have a series of classes in fiction writing, poetry and creative nonfiction,” Bledsoe said.

Authors Jami Attenberg, T.M. McNally and Christine Sneed teach the fiction workshops and classes.

Poets Sally Ball and Stephen Motika teach the poetry workshops and classes, and writer Jim Elledge teaches the creative nonfiction class.

The classes are run like a normal class, and students can bring their manuscripts to get help from the instructors, Bledsoe said.

IU students also use this conference to better their writing.

“In T.M. McNally’s class I am learning not to write my stories in first person all the time, which is something I struggle with,” IU senior and conference intern Abby Koop said.

After a day of class, the conference is less formal, as participants and the public listen to readings performed by faculty at 8 p.m. at the Bloomington Playwrights Project.
Audiences can hear Attenberg and Ball tonight.   

“At night we get together for these readings, and things are a little more laid back, and we get to see faculty members in their element,” conference associate director Trevor Mackesey said.

Registration for this year’s conference has concluded, but registration for the 2015 conference is encouraged.

The conference demonstrates to attendees what IU does to work with writers.

“Since the conference has been around since 1940, it has a rich tradition and showcases IU to the greater writing community,” Mackesey said.