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Join award-winning author Eldonna Edwards as she offers tips on how to apply novel-writing techniques to your memoir so that it reads more like a fascinating tale and less like your grandmother’s diary. She’ll also cover the importance of good editing, how to choose an eye-popping title, whether or not to self-publish, and marketing your brand beyond the book. This interactive workshop is tailored toward beginning to advanced memoirists who are looking for fun and inspiration.

Haiku, vignette, literary short–each offers a slice of existence captured in fat-free language. The energy of the short-form essay is observation, immediacy, and a flash of awareness. In times of 28-character tweets, the New York minute, and, if we're honest, shortened attention spans (can we blame social media?), the literary short has come into its own. Writers and readers see value in saying more with less. In this workshop, poet, essayist, and educator Leslie St. John will explore how submitting to restraints (750 words) can be creatively useful. Expect to read and write short-form essays with an eye for art and truth to enchant, challenge, and transform. She will also discuss specific publication opportunities.

Neither life nor memoir happens in a vacuum. Writing about your life often means writing about other people—those who shaped you, supported you, challenged you, and hurt you. How do you tell the truth when it’s tangled with someone else’s privacy? What do you owe them—and what do you owe the story? In this candid and practical session, memoirist, teacher, and editor Sara Roahen explores how to portray real people with honesty, nuance, and care.She’ll discuss ethical dilemmas, emotional safety, narrative fairness, and how to write vivid, layered portraits without flattening or vilifying the people involved. You’ll come away with tools to navigate this delicate terrain and the confidence to share your story with integrity.

You do not need more time to make progress — you need a system that works with the time you have. In this motivating session, Dr. Christiane Schroeter introduces attendees to her Petite Practice™ method, designed to help writers take meaningful action in as little as fifteen minutes a day. This is not about hustle. It is about focus, alignment, and moving forward without burnout. Participants will receive access to her Unlock Your Potential Starter Kit, including guided prompts, planning templates, and practical next steps to carry the momentum forward long after the conference ends.

Your life holds stories only you can tell. In this workshop, poet and author Juan Luzuriaga will encourage attendees to slow down and take a closer look at the moments that shaped them. We’ll write together, talk about how to tell the truth without getting lost in it, and explore what makes a memory worth putting on the page. Whether you’re writing for yourself, your family, or a future reader—you’re welcome here. No polish needed, just honesty.