Pacific Institute for Professional Writing to Expand its Highly Successful Writers Weekend Events   New Writers Conference to Launch July 20 & 21 in Glendale, CA   Writers wishing to learn more about the craft and business of publishable stories, memoir, and informative narrative, will find significant opportunities Saturday and Sunday, July 20 & 21 at Glendale College in Glendale, CA. The PIPW Writers Weekend: Glendale, features...

There’s been a real boom in the popularity of creative writing weekends over the last few years. There are some who say writers retreats are a waste of time, pandering to writers’ fragile egos and encouraging people to believe they have writing talents which they, frankly, lack. But on the other hand, many writers really enjoy them and swear that a weekend away with other writers is a positive part of the creative process.  The...

The 2013 Wasafiri New Writing Prize is now open! We welcome entries from all writers anywhere in the world! Categories: Poetry, Fiction or Life Writing. Prizes: £300 for each category plus winners will be published in Wasafiri Entry fees: UK Sterling £6.00 if entering one category, £10.00 for two and £15.00 for three categories Simply fill in the entry form and post it with your fee to: ‘Wasafiri New Writing Prize’ Wasafiri The Open...

While the traditional view of formal poetry includes a very strict rhyme scheme that must be adhered to, the free verse style popularized by the great Ezra Pound largely eschews rhyme schemes altogether, instead relying on the power of the words themselves to paint a vivid portrait of the poet’s feelings. Free verse has become so widely accepted by publishers of modern poetry, in fact, that some won’t even entertain submissions of formal...

Have you survived an illness, personal tragedy, devastating loss, abusive relationship, financial ruin, or other life experience that brought you to your knees? Did the song “I Will Survive,” by Grammy Award-winning songstress Gloria Gaynor, inspire you to rise, survive, and move forward? If so, we’d love to share your story in a new book of personal narrative essays that tell the story of how you survived the experience and how the song...