ROSEMARY BEACH, FL (March 26, 2012) – Florida Book Award Winner Lynne Barrett is among six writers who will teach at the three-day Rosemary Beach Conference for Writers in May. The classes take place at Rosemary Beach Town Hall and other local venues beginning Wednesday, May 9 at 8:30 a.m. through Friday, May 11. The conference is open to writers of all skill levels, though registration is required.

About Barrett’s book, Magpies, winner of the Florida Book Award Gold Medal, Publisher’s Weekly writes: “Barrett portrays adult lives with minimal flourishes and a powerful command of setting. Florida is electric with the tension of “all that can happen”–hurricanes, sinkholes, and a boom-and-bust history. It becomes as eerie as it is richly imagined…”

The conference includes one-page workshops, author panels, classes in fiction, nonfiction and poetry, as well as author readings, book signings and receptions. Barrett will teach a creative nonfiction class at the conference. John Dufresne, author of four novels, and two books on writing, including, “Is Life Like This?” a guide to writing the novel in six months, will teach novel writing and flash fiction. Rick Campbell, director of Anhinga Press and author of poetry collections, Dixmont, The Traveler’s Companion, and Setting the World in Order will teach poetry. Leonard Nash (You Can’t Get There from Here), Laura Lee Smith (Hearts of Palm forthcoming 2013), will teach short fiction. Also appearing are Miles DeMott (Family Meeting) and John Cottle (The Blessings of Hard-used Angels).

To register, visit www.conferenceforwriters.com

Registration fee: $250 before April 6
After April 6: $300
Student rate: $200
One-day registration: $125
Conference details: www.conferenceforwriters.com
Featured Faculty include creative non-fiction/editor, Lynne Barrett; poet, Rick Campbell; and fiction authors, John Cottle, Miles DeMott, John Dufresne, Leonard Nash, and Laura Lee Smith.

Seven featured faculty/authors are:

  • LYNNE BARRETT is the author of three story collections, The Secret Names of Women, The Land of Go and Magpies, which is the winner of the Gold Medal in General Fiction in the Florida Book Awards. Her recent work has appeared in The Written Wardrobe, Delta Blues, Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, Night Train, One Year to a Writing Life, and The Southern Women’s Review. She has received the Edgar Allan Poe Award for best mystery story from the Mystery Writers of America and fellowships from the Florida Division of Cultural Affairs and the National Endowment for the Arts. She teaches at Florida International University and edits The Florida Book Review. www.lynnebarrett.com
  • JOHN COTTLE is the author of The Blessings of Hard-Used Angels, a short story collection that was awarded the 2003 George Garrett prize. His short fiction has also appeared in The Texas Review, Amaryllis, Literary Potpourri, Ink Pot, and Gulfstreaming. His stories have been anthologized in Working Hard for the Money: Stories and Poems of America’s Working Poor and Climbing Mt. Cheaha. John has won numerous literary awards, including three Hackney’s for short fiction, and was a finalist in the short story category of the William Faulkner – Pirates Alley Creative Writing Competition. When not writing fiction, John practices law. He lives in South Walton County, Florida. www.johncottle.net
  • RICK CAMPBELL is the author of Dixmont, The Traveler’s Companion, and Setting the World in Order. His poems and essays have appeared in The Georgia Review, The Missouri Review, The Tampa Review and others. He has won an NEA fellowship, a Pushcart Prize, and two fellowships from the Florida Arts Council. He is the director of Anhinga Press and teaches English at Florida A&M University.
  • MILES DEMOTT grew up in South Georgia. He always wanted to be a writer and has worked toward that goal for most of his life, including doctoral research on the writing process. Turning from academic prose to literary fiction, he has been able to capitalize on his vivid imagination and knack for storytelling, creating well-developed characters who struggle with compelling and foundational human questions in his debut novel, Family Meeting. He lives and writes in Alabama where he shepherds a small flock of diverse business interests and chases three dreams: his bride, the right words, and the perfect story. www.milesdemott.com
  • JOHN DUFRESNE is the author of the novels Louisiana Power & Light, Love Warps the Mind a Little, Deep in the Shade of Paradise, and Requiem, Mass. He is also the editor of Blue Christmas; Holiday Stories for the Rest of Us. He’s written two collections of stories, The Way That Water Enters Stone and Johnny Too Bad and two guides to writing fiction,The Lie That Tells a Truth and Is Life Like This? He teaches creative writing at Florida International University in Miami. www.johndufresne.com
  • LEONARD NASH received a Florida Book Award Silver Medal for his debut collection, You Can’t Get There from Here and Other Stories. Nash holds an M.F.A. from Florida International University. His work has appeared in the South Dakota Review, The Seattle Review, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Gulf Stream Magazine, Miami Magazine, and elsewhere. A resident of Hollywood, Florida, Nash is a freelance writing and editing consultant and an active Realtor. He has taught creative writing at Florida International University and the Florida Center for the Literary Arts at Miami Dade College. www.leonardnash.com
  • LAURA LEE SMITH’s first novel, Hearts of Palm, will be released in 2013. Her short fiction was selected by guest editor Amy Hempel for inclusion in New Stories from the South: The Year’s Best, 2010. Her work has also appeared in The Florida Review, Natural Bridge, Bayou and other journals. She teaches creative writing at Flagler College and works as an advertising copywriter. www.lauraleesmith.com