Keynote address presented at the 2018 conference at Hollins.

Writers Conference Cancelled for 2022

I was sad to see the announcement from Roanoke Regional Writers Conference Director Liz Long that the 2022 conference will not be held. 

Liz wrote, "We're postponing RRWC22. We're incredibly fortunate to partner with Hollins [University] every year, but with [its] current Covid rules (incredibly limited attendance, no group

Director Liz Long and Founder Me

lunch in [the]dining hall, no large congregating, NO COFFEE BAR!), as well as concerns for fall and winter with these variant troubles, I cannot in good conscience gather people together, or worse provide a subpar conference!"

She adds that the conference will go under full power in 2023 and she says she will "fully welcome your presenter and topic suggestions when we get closer."

Before Covid, the conference (which I founded in 2008) had never been canceled for a year, but had brief postponements because of snow. Liz is absolutely right in postponing for a second straight year because Covid is unforgiving and a conference under abnormal circumstances would lose its effectiveness, its charm and its value. 

I do regret that for the second straight year, the RRWC will not award its Sarabeth Hammond Memorial Scholarship to a Hollins student in a writing curriculum. There are some talented women in the Horizon Program who need the money.

In its years of proper functioning, the Writers Conference has helped build a community of writers in the Roanoke and New River Valleys and has either sold out or nearly sold out every year of its operation.

 There was obviously a need from the beginning and the conference has helped build an extremely strong and successful organization that has helped produce successful books, freelance work and writers groups in the area. That was always the ultimate goal. It has never been about gerunds and dangling participles, but about writers getting to know each other and to learn from each other.

The conference will be back and with Liz's leadership and the full participation of a strong writing community, it will remain strong and productive. Meanwhile, call a writer and chat. It will do you both a world of good.