The annual Southern Christian Writers Conference, which brings together writers of faith to educate and encourage them in their writing journey, will be held June 9–10 at Valley View Baptist Church in Leeds, Alabama.
Registration is now open for the conference, which is also available as a virtual event.
Keynote speakers for this year’s conference are publisher and literary agent Bruce Barbour and Christy Award-winning novelist Valerie Fraser Luesse.
Barbour, who is a fifth-generation Christian book publisher, will present a keynote address Friday night titled “Called to Tell God’s Story.” Luesse, who is an author of inspirational Southern fiction and former senior travel editor for Southern Living, will present Saturday’s keynote address on “Southern Fiction: Where Storytelling and Faith Meet.” Both presenters will also lead workshops on writing topics.
‘Real treat’
According to SCWC coordinator Cheryl Wray, the keynote presentations set the stage for the entire conference.
“Bruce and Valerie are wonderful Christians and representatives of the writing community,” she said. “We know that our attendees are in for a real treat from both of them.”
Barbour said he can’t wait to share “stories and strategies that will inspire and motivate every attendee to stay the course.”
In addition to the two keynote presentations, the SCWC will feature 20 workshops on a variety of writing topics including writing devotional books, writing poetry, writing screenplays, social media for writers and much more. A full listing of workshops can be found on the SCWC blog at southernchristianwriters.blogspot.com. Workshop presenters are Christian professionals who are experts in different writing genres, and include Jennifer Davis Rash, TAB Media Group president and editor-in-chief.
SCWC participants will also get the chance to have one-on-one consultations with agents and editors, both in person and virtually. Featured agents and editors include Linda Glaz (Linda Glaz Literary Agency), Bruce Barbour (Literary Management Group), Karen Moore (Literary Management Group), Martine Fairbanks (Soncoast Publishing) and John Herring (Iron Stream Media).
Book room
Other features include the opportunity to participate in an onsite book room where authors can sell their books, a share and critique session the Thursday night before the conference, worship and prayer opportunities and the opportunity to submit entries to the 2023 SCWC writing awards. In-person participants also have three meals (Friday dinner, Saturday breakfast and Saturday lunch) included.
Those who can’t attend in person or live far away may want to participate through the virtual SCWC, which will be available through video recordings of keynote presentations, select workshops and more on a private playlist on the SCWC YouTube channel.
“This is a great way to participate in the conference if you can’t make it to Birmingham,” Wray said.
The SCWC was founded in 1991 by David and Joanne Sloan, members of Tuscaloosa’s First Baptist Church. Their daughter Wray now operates the conference.
Wray said that the goal of the SCWC is to both educate and encourage Christian writers who are anywhere on their writing journey. The conference welcomes both aspiring and published writers.
“We’ve claimed Hebrews 10:23–24 as our conference Bible verse this year … It talks about the importance of ‘spurring one another to good deeds,’ and that’s what we try to do through the conference,” she said. “We want to encourage writers to good deeds with their words.”
Registration information
Registration is now open for the conference. Anyone interested can contact Cheryl Wray at scwritersconference@gmail.com to sign up or receive more information. The Southern Christian Writers Conference works in partnership with TAB Media Group.
Visit the SCWC Facebook group here.
Click here to visit the SCWC website.
Click here to visit the SCWC blog.
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