The 2010 Jubilee Writer’s Conference, “A Gumbo for Writers,” will feature a discussion of the literary arts, a look at the business of publishing and a line-up of presenters at the Terrebonne Parish Library on April 10. This year’s conference will give guests a chance to receive insight from those in the writing field and will also allow them the opportunity to present their own works for manuscript critiques and fiction and poetry contests.
Guests will be able to submit a hard copy of their novels’ first pages to be orally critiqued by a panel that will either “roast or toast it,” Jackie Jackson, chair of Nicholls Department of Languages and Literature, said.
“We are again hosting a fiction contest,” Jackson wrote. “The winner will receive $50 and a 20-mintue session with New York editor Rose Hilliard.”
There is a 1,500-word limit and a $10 entrance fee for the contest.
Harley Jane Kozak will be the keynote speaker of the evening. Kozak, the author and actress who appeared in the movies “Parenthood,” “Arachnophobia” and “When Harry Met Sally,” has won multiple awards for her debut novel. She is also known for her mystery stories and editing work.
Other speakers attending the event include writers Traci Hall, Sheila Goss, Catherine Savage Brosman, Mary Jane Ryals, Michael Trammel, Heather Graham, F. Paul Wilson, Cherry Adair and David Middleton.
The 19th century paintings of Jean Francois Millet, a French painter known for his natural and realistic works that have inspired poems by some of the event speakers, will be one topic of conversation, Middleton, Nicholls’ poet-in-residence, said.
“We will discuss how we used the paintings to influence our poems,” Middleton said.
Lauren Bordelon, public relations coordinator at the Terrebonne Parish Library, said the event is now in its seventh year and has been growing since its first.
“People from all over the region attend,” Bordelon said. “There will be a variety of homegrown and national talent, all of which will be accessible in one day.”
Potential writers will have the chance to put their work on display.
“For people who want to become writers, this will show them the tricks of the trade,” Bordelon said. “People who are finished writing a book can come here to find out how to market and sell it.”
Sponsors of “A Gumbo for Writers” include Houma Regional Arts Council, Friends of the Terrebonne Public Library, Terrebonne Parish Main Library, ABDON Callais Offshore, SWeeDee Garbage Disposal, Community Bank, Bollinger’s Shipyard, Bent Pages Bookstore and Nicholls State University.
A $30 registration fee will guarantee guests entrance to listen to the keynote speaker and a lunch provided at the library. Attendees may forgo the fee but will not receive the meal or access to the keynote speech.
For more information on “A Gumbo for Writers” contact Jackie Jackson at (985) 448-4858 or [email protected], or go to www.jubileewritersconference.org.
