Walking Meditation and Picnic at the Beach
2023-08-05 | CA
Mark your calendars for the August IMWA monthly meeting. We’re gathering as a community for a walking meditation with our very own Marni Freedman and Anastasia Zadeik, followed by a picnic! It’s on Saturday, August 5 at Parque Mission Bay (Crown Point Beach) at 2:30 p.m. We hope to see you in-person soon!

Filming Your Life Story with documentarian Carlos de los Rios
2023-09-09 14:30 - 16:00 UTC | ZOOM Online, CA, United States
Join Carlos as he will walk you through the following topics:

What is a filmed life story? What is a bio-pic documentary?

What is a book trailer for a memoir?

What are the benefits of doing an oral/filmed history (on top of or instead of a written history)?

What does it mean to leave a visual legacy?

How long should it be, and what shape would it take?

How the process works and what to do next!

Who should consider making one and why?

Carlos de los Rios is a 20-year veteran of the film industry – an award-winning writer, producer and documentarian. He has written movies that star Academy Award-winning, Emmy Award-winning, Golden Globe Award-winning and Tony Award-winning actors. He has the distinction of having written silver screen legend Lauren Bacall’s final film, The Forger.
He has a passion for helping people tell their life stories.

Festival U
2023-10-07 10:00 - 16:00 | CA
A full day of writing workshops including:
Session 1 (10 am to 11 am PT)
Books that Change the World – How Authors with a Cause Can Impact Us All with Winnie Li and Valena Beety. Moderated by Anastasia Zadeik
Session 2 (11 am – 12 pm PT)
On Memory and Metaphor – Bringing the Past to Life with Sue William Silverman
Session 3 (12 – 1 pm PT)
The Art and Craft of Middle Grade Fiction with Award Winning Author, Chris Baron
Session 4 (1pm – 2pm PT)
Historical Fiction: Keeping it Real While Keeping it Interesting with Jennifer Coburn
Session 5 (2 pm – 3 pm)
Nothing is Wasted – The Art of How the Writer Brings It All Together with Judy Reeves
Session 6 (3 pm to 4 pm)
Ask An Agent – An Hour to Ask Any Question You Have Ever Had! With Lilly Gharhamani
Learn More

Website Wow - The Importance of Having an Author Website
2023-11-04 14:30 - 16:00 | ZOOM Online, CA, United States
An author’s website is the most important element of a successful book marketing plan.

A powerful website tells your story, builds a loyal following, and sells books! In this class, internet marketing strategist and author branding consultant Jeniffer Thompson teaches the importance of your brand story—the ultimate tool to connect with your audience and convert traffic into revenue. Plus, you’ll hear what’s trending online, pick up some SEO tricks to drive traffic, and learn a simple five-step strategy to hook your audience on the first page of your website. Don’t miss this jam-packed class of insider secrets that every author must know.

Neal Allen and Anne Lamont discussing Better Days with Marni Freedman
2023-12-13 18:30 - 19:30 | CA
Warwick’s, in partnership with the San Diego Writers Festival and the Coronado Public Library
Presents Neal Allen and Anne Lamott with Marni Freedman
BETTER DAYS
TAME YOUR INNER CRITIC
Ticket sales are limited!
Reserve your seat today!
GET TICKETS
In this life-changing book, writer and spiritual coach, Neal Allen, teaches us a stunning new method for quieting the inner critic.
“Better Days will help you get to know your inner critic, and quiet its yammering, and in so doing, get to know the person you were born to be.” – Anne Lamott, Author of Dusk Night Dawn, Bird by Bird and others
What if your superego has it wrong?
That snarky little bully in your head…you know the one.
You’ve lived under its weight for decades.

I’m a fraud, I’m lazy
I need to work harder
I need to be tougher, funnier, calmer…
I need to stay quiet, look pretty, stop showing off
I need to put others before me, I need to put myself first
I need to be perfect
I need to hide who I really am
Sound familiar?
You know that its scolding voice is harmful to you, but you can’t will it away. You accept a life with short periods of peace and long stretches of stress and anxiety. But you don’t have to.
In this revolutionary new book, Better Days: Tame Your Inner Critic, writer and spiritual coach, Neal Allen, examines a critical aspect of the human psyche that often gets ignored – the superego.
Building on Freud’s idea that the superego necessarily forms a person’s moral conscience, Neal explains how this voice in your head develops in childhood as a survival mechanism, but when no longer needed for protection, camps out in your mind like a personal parasite. A parasite that doesn’t belong.
Through simple and engaging exercises and explorations, Neal leads you into meeting, confronting, and ultimately quieting your own inner critic.
By shedding off the burden of the superego, you can overcome tired patterns of reward and punishment, reduce the self-talk that harms you, and ultimately clear an open space for the life you deserve, one that is gentler and more peaceful.
Just imagine…if all that nasty, negative chatter in your head just evaporated … what would you do next?
Better days are just ahead.

9th Annual San Diego Memoir Showcase
2023-12-14 19:00 - 21:00 | The Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center, 7600 Fay Ave., La Jolla, 92037, United States
Save the date for the 9th Annual
MEMOIR SHOWCASE
Funny, Not Funny
Thursday, December 14
7 PM
The Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center
7600 Fay Avenue La Jolla, CA 92037
Get Tickets

January Member Meeting: Vision Boards
2024-01-06 14:30 - 16:30 | ZOOM Online, CA, United States
We will gather virtually as a community on Saturday, January 6, at 2:30 p.m. PT on Zoom for a day of vision board making, rejuvenation, and Inspiration!

We are going to be working on vision boards for 2024. So gather up some magazines or print out inspiring photos and words of encouragement. As we all clip and cut and paste, we want to offer and share inspiration.

Please bring any of the following:
– Inspirational Poems
– Blessings
– Prompts
– Short readings (2 min approx)

You do not need to bring anything if you don’t want to—feel free just to come and enjoy—but if you have a piece you would like to share, we would love it. We want to hear from you!

Shaking the Tree Volume 5 Launch
2024-01-18 19:30 - 21:00 | Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla, CA, 92037, United States
Join us at Warwick’s to celebrate the launch of Shaking the Tree Volume 5 — But I’m Still Here.

An afternoon with memoirist Jennifer Silva Redmond
2024-02-03 14:30 - 16:00 | ZOOM Online, CA, United States
Join us for our February member meeting, an afternoon with memoirist Jennifer Silva Redmond, author of Honeymoon by the Sea.
Jennifer will discuss the craft of writing memoir and will her per publishing experience.

Copyright and Fair Use with attorney Kelley Way
2024-03-02 14:30 - 16:00 | ZOOM Online, CA, United States
Join us at our March member meeting where copyright and trademark attorney Kelley Way will discuss copyright and fair use and answer our questions!
Copyright and Fair Use:
Editors often grapple with questions regarding lengthy quotations or other content taken from outside sources, published and unpublished. Authors often rely on editors to alert them of potential copyright issues in their manuscript. But what are copyrights, and how can they be used to protect your clients’ work? When might an editor want to alert a client to a potential need for permission to avoid copyright infringement? And how does fair use tie in? This presentation will teach you what rights your client has, how to use them to your best advantage, and how to safely use other people’s content.

About Kelley Way:
Kelley Way was born and raised in Walnut Creek, California. She graduated from UC Davis with a B.A. in English, followed by a Juris Doctorate. Kelley is a member of the California Bar and is an aspiring writer of young adult fantasy novels. She practices copyright, trademark and estate planning law at The Law Office of Kelley A. Way. Kelley can be reached at kaway@kawaylaw.com.

The Fifth Annual San Diego Writers Festival
2024-04-06 | Coronado Public Library, 640 Orange Ave, Coronado, CA, 92118
Join us at Coronado Public Library for the 5th Annual San Diego Writers Festival. Learn more at www.sandiegowritersfestival.com!

Memoirists, Do Your Emotional Homework! with Kristen Balelo
2024-05-04 14:30 - 16:00 | CA
All memoirs tell a story. A satisfying memoir – a compelling, heart-warming, gut-wrenching, page-turner – is a portal to healing, learning, and self-awareness. The best memoirists establish an emotional connection between reader and writer. Creating this emotional connection takes work, emotional work. What is emotional homework? Why is it important? And how do I do it? These questions and more will be answered in this interactive and empowering workshop.
Kristen Balelo earned a Masters of Fine Arts (MFA) degree in creative writing at Salve Regina University in July 2023. With an emphasis in nonfiction, she has been published in the first Shaking the Tree anthology and by The Shadow. She recently created a Substack where she has shared part of her memoir in progress, Fat Daughter. The story explores the impact food restriction and body shame have on a mother/daughter relationship and how a series of unfortunate events gave her mother and her an opportunity to heal their relationship which provided an opening for Kristen to start healing herself. She also writes about her experience growing up in a Portuguese community as the daughter of a commercial fisherman and her time advocating for youth in foster care. Her social media is dedicated to her writing, eating disorder recovery and eradicating diet culture. Substack: kristenbalelo.substack.com Instagram: @kristenbalelo

Anastasia Zadeik discusses “The Other Side of Nothing” with Marni Freedman
2024-05-29 19:30 - 20:30 | Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla, CA, 92037, United States
On Wednesday, May 29th at 7:30pm Warwick’s will host Anastasia Zadeik as she discusses and signs her new book, The Other Side of Nothing, with Marni Freedman. Anastasia Zadeik is a writer, editor, and storyteller. After graduating from Smith College, she had an international career in neuropsychological research while raising her children. She now serves as Director of Communications for the San Diego Writers Festival, as a coproducer of the San Diego Memoir Showcase, and as a mentor for the literary nonprofit So Say We All. She also sits on the board of the International Memoir Writers Association. A frequent performer of narrative non-fiction in a hushed bar or on a stage, her work has appeared in the San Diego Decameron Project, LitHub, writeordietribe.com, and the award-winning anthology Shaking the Tree: Short. Brazen. Memoir. Her debut novel, Blurred Fates, won the 2023 Sarton Award for Contemporary Fiction and the 2023 National Indie Excellence Award for Contemporary Fiction. She lives in San Diego with her husband and their empty-nest rescue dog, Charlie.
Reserved Seating is available when The Other Side of Nothing is pre-ordered from Warwick’s through the linked green “Reserve Seats Here” button above. Only books purchased from Warwick’s will be signed. Please call the Warwick’s Book Dept. (858) 454-0347 for details.
Reserve your seat here

A Discussion with Memoirist Patty Lin, author of “End Credits - How I Broke Up With Hollywood”
2024-06-01 14:30 - 16:00 | ZOOM Online, CA, United States
What happens when you land your dream job and everything you’ve been working toward becomes a complete nightmare? This is Patty Lin’s story. She climbed the ladder as an award-winning television writer (often the only Asian person in the room) only to be confronted by discouragement, burnout, and toxicity. In discussion with IMWA President Tracy J. Jones and SDWF Communications Director and author of “The Other Side Of Nothing” Anastasia Zadeik.

Ever since Patty Lin retired from television writing at the ripe age of thirty-eight, people have asked her: “Why would you quit such a cool career?” Especially when they find out she worked on some of the most successful shows in television history. But what if achieving your professional dreams comes at too high a personal cost? That’s what Patty Lin started to ask herself after years in the cutthroat TV industry. One minute she was a tourist, begging her way into the audience of Late Night with David Letterman. Just a few years later, she was an insider who-through relentless hard work and sacrifice-had earned a seat in the writers’ rooms of the hottest TV shows of all time.
While writing for Friends, Freaks and Geeks, Desperate Housewives and Breaking Bad, Patty steeled herself against the indignities of a chaotic, abusive, male-dominated work culture, not just as one of the few women in the room, but as the only Asian person.
Funny, eye-opening, and sobering, this inside-Hollywood story will resonate with anyone who has struggled with their work and on their life journey. And it will inspire others to listen to their inner voices and know when it’s time to get out.

Patty Lin is a former TV writer and producer whose credits include Freaks and Geeks, Friends, Desperate Housewives, and Breaking Bad. She has also written pilots for Fox, CBS, and Nickelodeon. Her Breaking Bad episode, “Gray Matter,” was nominated for a Writers Guild Award for Outstanding Script in the Episodic Drama category. She retired from television writing to pursue other interests and occasionally appears in background acting roles. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband.

Memoir Mondays- Virtual Writing Room
2024-06-03 10:00 - 12:00 | ZOOM Online, CA, United States
Tracy J. Jones will take the first ten minutes to check in with any writers who want to share a success, challenge, or update on their writing projects. If you are interested, there will be a prompt for each session. Come for 15 minutes or stay for two hours.
All genres are welcome!

How to Write a Winning Showcase Piece
2024-06-03 18:00 - 19:00 | ZOOM Online, CA, United States
A FREE class with Tracy and Marni for all members of IMWA. $7 Fee for
nonmembers.
Register here

Zibby Owens discusses “Blank” in Conversation with Anastasia Zadeik
2024-06-24 19:30 | Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla, CA, 92037, United States
On Monday, June 24th at 7:30pm Warwick’s and The San Diego Writer’s Festival will host Zibby Owens as she discusses and signs her new book, Blank, in conversation with Anastasia Zadeik. Zibby Owens — like Pippa Jones — wears a lot of hats. She is the award-winning podcast host of Moms Don’t Have Time to Read Books; founder and CEO of Zibby Media, which includes the publishing house Zibby Books, an online magazine, a book club, retreats, classes, and events; and is the proud owner of Zibby’s Bookshop, an independent bookstore in Santa Monica. Her previous books include Bookends: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Literature, children’s book Princess Charming, and two anthologies that she edited. A frequent contributor to Good Morning America, Katie Couric Media, and other outlets, she is – most of all! – the mother of four fabulous kids ages 9 to 16 — and wife to Kyle Owens, founder of Morning Moon Productions.
Reserved Seating is available when Blank is pre-ordered from Warwick’s through the linked green “Reserve Seats Here” button above. Only books purchased from Warwick’s will be signed.
Reserve seats here

Writing Together, an In-Person Meet Up
2024-07-13 14:30 - 16:00 | CA
Join us in person for prompt and free writing at the beautiful Self Realization Gardens in Encinitas. Bring paper, a pen, and an openness to write!

Writing the Hybrid Memoir: Process and Product” with Shadab Zeest Hashmi
2024-08-03 14:30 - 16:00 | ZOOM Online, CA, United States
The hybrid memoir is a fluid, potentially powerful form that makes for an exciting project, but there are pitfalls. This discussion will cover tips on harnessing the benefits of the genres we include in our hybrid manuscripts, identifying the biographical material best suited to a particular genre, navigating the motifs that emerge in the story as a whole, and, finally, shaping the book.
Please join us for our August IMWA Monthly Meeting Featuring Memoirist Shadab Zeest Hashmi, author of Comb.
Comb is the story of a girl “under the spell of history,” growing up in the shadow of the legendary Khyber Pass which is both a bridge between disparate civilizations and an impassable divide. Shadab Zeest Hashmi reveals the tangles of empire and language, history and myth, exile and belonging — from the lens of childhood, integrating memory with the history of one of the most significant geopolitical and cultural thresholds of the world. This is a book that honors thresholds in a time of closed doors, written with a poet’s conviction in the regency of love.

SDWF+Warwick’s Book Club: “The Majority” by Elizabeth L. Silver
2024-08-15 17:00 - 18:00 | ZOOM Online, CA, United States
Inspired by history, a riveting novel of love and friendship, motherhood and ambition, and one woman’s fight to be a Supreme Court justice.
Half of the United States is waiting for Justice Sylvia Olin Bernstein to die. The other half is praying for her to hold on. At 83, “the contemptuous S.O.B.” doesn’t have much time left. What she has is a story, one she has wrested from the grip of history to tell herself—of how she rose to her historic position on the Supreme Court, and the barriers she broke along the way.
Told over fifty years, from losing her mother at a young age, to falling in love, to navigating an unplanned pregnancy and motherhood, to learning how to spar with a sexist mentor, Sylvia’s personal story reveals the intimate truth about who she was as she ascended to her modern throne: not just a brilliant mind, but a daughter, a best friend, a wife, mother, and advocate. While caught in a dramatic tug of war between career and family, truth and convenience, progress and patience, she will be given a chance to change the course of American history – and give voice, at last, to the majority.
Set against the vibrant sweep of the 20th century, THE MAJORITY brings us into the sacrifices, heartaches, and complex emotional life of a powerful woman ahead of her time, whose life and work turn out to have supreme stakes.

about the author

Elizabeth L. Silver is the author of the novel, The Execution of Noa P. Singleton, which was an Amazon Best Book of the Year and published in seven languages. Silver has also worked as an attorney in California and Texas, where she was a judicial clerk for the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, and currently teaches creative writing with UCLA. She has written for Harper’s Bazaar, New York Magazine, The Washington Post, and lives in Los Angeles with her family.

praise for…

Praise for The Majority:
“Silver is particularly persuasive when dramatizing what women faced when trying to maintain careers and families in the 1970s.”—The Washington Post
“[Ruth Bader Ginsberg’s] legend lives on, most recently in Elizabeth Silver’s new novel The Majority. It’s RBG-esque protagnist, Sylvia Olin Bernstein, 83, considers her life as she looks back to her decades on the highest court. . .stealthily devastating . . . [an] important novel.”—The Los Angeles Times
“Engrossing and thought-provoking. . .While The Majority is a clear homage to Ginsburg, Silver paints a full portrait of Sylvia, whose life unfolds during some of the most consequential events in American history. . .The Majority is more than an entertaining read, although it is certainly that. It’s a profound contemplation of how women are treated by the law and how they administer the law. The Contemptuous S.O.B. is both a brilliant jurist and an all-too-human woman fighting against a system stacked against her.”—BookPage

“Readers will, of necessity, think of real-life trailblazers Sandra Day O’Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, but Silver wisely brings a universality to Sylvia’s story of sacrifice and determination, making it recognizable to women of every era, background, and profession who battle to forge their own paths against society’s limiting expectations.”—Booklist
“Incisive. . .Silver wisely gives Sylvia her own path to travel, emphasizing how her professional goals both shape and are shaped by her experiences as a woman. Ginsburg’s many admirers will be captivated by her literary counterpart.” —Publishers Weekly
“Drawing from the life of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Silver’s novel depicts a fictionalized Supreme Court justice who navigates the misogyny of the world in which she finds herself. Even as she shoulders her own burdens of love, career, and motherhood, Justice Sylvia Olin Bernstein also seeks to be a force of moral reckoning. In The Majority, readers are given a look at a vivid life.”—Alta

“A story of secrets, impossible choices, and how we negotiate the uneasy space between our personal and public lives. Like Curtis Sittenfeld’s American Wife, The Majority transforms the life of a singular woman into a compelling narrative that illuminates the most important themes playing out in America today.”—Amanda Eyre Ward, New York Times bestselling author of The Jetsetters
“This is Justice Sylvia Olin Bernstein’s story but make no mistake, Ruth Bader Ginsburg is hammering her heavenly gavel in approval. The Majority is replete with raw emotional context, perception, and humanity that resonates far beyond the page. Sure to be one of the most unforgettable reads of the year. It already holds that distinction for me.” —Sarah McCoy, New York Times bestselling author of Mustique Island and Marilla of Green Gables
“With the story of one remarkable woman’s life, The Majority reveals how the lives of ALL women have been altered over the course of the last eighty-some years. Exploring important questions about the sacrifices we both should and shouldn’t make for those we care about, Silver has written a novel at once intimate and epic, about how we are changed by experience, and how the people we love are central to these transformations.” —Edan Lepucki, New York Times bestselling author of California
“The Majority is the great American novel you will urge your daughters and sisters and friends to read. From post-war Brooklyn to the gold-trimmed curtains of the Supreme Court, the story of Sylvia Olin Bernstein is rendered with such clarity and compassion that readers will reconsider everything they thought they knew about the remarkable women who transformed American history.” —Julia Fierro, author of Cutting Teeth and The Gypsy Moth Summer

“This book should be required reading. The Majority is a tiny hammer in Silver’s hand, undetectable and hovering overhead, the act of reading like a trigger breaking you apart over and over again. I was literally lost in The Majority and it changed me.”—Natashia Deon, NAACP-nominated author of Grace

“Surprisingly personal . . .The complexity of Sylvia’s background and the personal cost of her commitment make for a thought-provoking read with many echoes of a certain departed Supreme Court Justice also known by three initials.” —Janet Fitch, New York Times bestselling author ofWhite Oleander and The Revolution of Marina M.

“Restored my faith in justice. I loved this novel.”—Lynn Steger Strong, author of Want

Festival U
2024-09-14 10:00 - 16:00 | ZOOM Online, CA, United States
Festival U 2024 – A Fundraiser for SDWF
One Day ~ Online ~ 8 Amazing Workshops for only $60
Spaces are limited
Get Tickets
SDWF is Proud to Partner with Zibby’s Bookshop!

SDWF Festival U is our yearly fundraiser and online day of learning. The virtual program runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and includes 7 stellar classes, workshops, and discussions from world-class talent. This year our focus is on PUBLISHING and we are including some pre-recorded bonus material. This fundraiser helps the in-person festival remain 100% free.
Speakers for Festival U

Anne Lamott
Anne Lamott is the author of the New York Times bestsellers Hallelujah Anyway; Help, Thanks, Wow; Small Victories; Stitches; Some Assembly Required; Grace (Eventually); Plan B; Traveling Mercies; Bird by Bird; and Operating Instructions. She is also the author of seven novels, including Imperfect Birds and Rosie. A past recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and an inductee to the California Hall of Fame, she lives in Northern California.
Neal Allen
Neal Allen is a writer and spiritual coach. His focus is on removing the obstacles of the ego, with the faith that whatever shines through the opening is your own personal freedom. A former journalist and corporate executive, he holds a Master’s degree in Eastern Classics. His book Shapes of Truth was released in 2021. Better Days: Tame Your Inner Critic is due out later this year from Namaste Publishing. Anne Lamott is the renowned feminist, Christian, lefty author and speaker whose 19 best-sellers include novels, books on faith, hope, and recovery (most recently Dusk Night Dawn), the classic on writing Bird by Bird, and Operating Instructions on Childrearing. Married, Annie and Neal live in Fairfax, California.
Agent Elise Capron
Session: Ask an Agent Anything!
An hour to ask a top agent any question you have about the current state of the publishing industry, query letters, what agents are looking for, how to avoid the slush pile, best practices when reaching out to an agent, and more!
Bio: Elise is an agent at the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency. In addition to handling her own list, she oversees the daily operations of the SDLA office. She is most interested in well-written narrative non-fiction (particularly trade-friendly history, cultural studies, and science) as well as character-driven literary fiction for the adult market. (Please note that she is handling much more non-fiction than fiction at this particular time.)
A graduate of Emerson College, Elise holds a BFA in Writing, Literature and Publishing. She has been with the Dijkstra Agency since 2003.
On the non-fiction front, Elise is looking for fascinating true stories told in a compelling way. She is especially interested in working with up-and-coming scholars (particularly historians) who are looking to transition from the academic market to a trade readership, as well as journalists. Some of Elise’s representative non-fiction titles include Cynthia Barnett’s The Sound of the Sea: Seashells and the Fate of the Oceans (Norton) and Rain: A Natural and Cultural History (Crown), which was long-listed for the National Book Award and the PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award; Meera Subramanian’s A River Runs Again: India’s Natural World in Crisis, from the Barren Cliffs of Rajasthan to the Farmlands of Karnataka (Public Affairs); Luis J. Rodriguez’s From Our Land to Our Land: Essays, Journeys, and Imaginings from a Native Xicanx Writer (Seven Stories); Andrew Baker’s To Poison a Nation: The Murder of Robert Charles and the Rise of Jim Crow Policing in America (New Press); Jack Shuler’s This Is Ohio: The Overdose Crisis and the Front Lines of a New America (Counterpoint); Onaje X. O. Woodbine’s Take Back What the Devil Stole: An African American Prophet’s Encounters in the Spirit World (Columbia University Press); Tom Chaffin’s Odyssey: Young Charles Darwin, The Beagle, and The Voyage that Changed the World (Pegasus); Jonathon Keats’s You Belong to the Universe: Buckminster Fuller and the Future (Oxford University Press); and more.
On the fiction side, Elise is interested in manuscripts that have unforgettable writing, a distinctive narrative voice, and memorable characters. She loves novels with an unusual or eccentric edge and is drawn to stories she has never heard before. She aims to work with writers who are getting their work published regularly in literary magazines and who have a realistic sense of the market and their audience. Some of Elise’s representative fiction titles include Tiphanie Yanique’s Monster in the Middle (Riverhead), Land of Love and Drowning (Riverhead) and How to Escape from a Leper Colony (Graywolf); Howard A. Rodman’s The Great Eastern (Melville House); Courtney Brkic’s The First Rule of Swimming (Little, Brown); Rachel Toor’s On The Road to Find Out (FSG); Jonathon Keats’ The Book of the Unknown (Random House); Rikki Ducornet’s Netsuke (Coffee House Press); Maureen McHugh’s After the Apocalypse (Small Beer Press), which was picked as a “Top 10 Best of the Year” by Publishers Weekly, and more.
Website: https://www.dijkstraagency.com/agent-page.php?agent_id=Capron
April Eberhardt, Agent, Author Consultant and Retreat Leader in Chateau-du-Loir, France
April Eberhardt is a self-described “literary change agent” and author advocate passionate about helping authors be published in the most satisfying way. After 25 years as a corporate strategist and management consultant, April joined the literary world, where she saw strategic opportunity to play a role in the changing world of publishing. She advises and assists authors as they choose the best pathway to publication, and serves as a consultant to publishing startups serving indie authors. She represents a diverse group of clients in the U.S. and abroad, and speaks at conferences worldwide. April serves on the Advisory Council for The American Library in Paris, and is a reader for The Best American Short Stories series published annually by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. April divides her time between San Francisco, New York and Paris.
Website: https://aprileberhardt.com/

NY Times Bestselling Author and Thought Leader, Chip Conley
Session: An Hour with NY Times Bestselling Author on his new book, Learning to Love Midlife.
Festival Director, Marni Freedman sits down with Chip Conley to discuss his book, his career, and his profound business experiences that opened up a new way of viewing and dynamically living midlife.
Bio: New York Times bestselling author, multiple-time TED talk speaker and MEA founder.
A three-time TED speaker on the big stage, Chip Conley is one of the world’s leading experts at the intersection of business innovation, psychology and spirituality. As one of the creators of the boutique hotel movement and the ‘modern elder’ to the young Airbnb founders, Chip’s been a disruptor and expert on entrepreneurship and business leadership. But what sets him apart as a speaker is the fact that he’s written 7 popular book and is a globally recognized thought leader on the future of work, the value of corporate culture, and the competitive advantage of a multi-generational workplace. Inspired by his experience of intergenerational mentoring as a ‘modern elder’ at Airbnb, where his guidance was instrumental to the company’s extraordinary transformation from fast-growing start up to the world’s most valuable hospitality brand, Chip founded MEA (Modern Elder Academny.) The world’s first midlife wisdom school.” Dedicated to reframing the concept of aging, Chip and MEA support students in navigating midlife with a renewed sense of purpose and possibility.
Website: https://chipconley.com/
The midlife crisis is the butt of so many jokes, but this long-derided life stage has an upside. What if we could reframe our thinking about the natural transition of midlife not as a crisis, but as a chrysalis-a time when something profound awakens in us, as we shed our skin, spread our wings, and pollinate our wisdom to the world? Drawing on the latest social science research, inspiring stories, and timeless wisdom, Chip reveals 12 reasons why life gets better with age.
Chip Conley Featured on Oprah.com: https://www.oprahdaily.com/life/health/a44052600/modern-elder-academy-chip-conley/

Famed Psychologist and Author, Peter A Levine, Phd
Session: Writing about Trauma – A Path to Healing
Festival Director Marni Freedman sits down with famed psychologist and author Peter A. Levine, Phd, for a candid and thoughtful discussion of his latest book, An Autobiography of a Trauma: A Healing Journey. The discussion will cover his wide-ranging career, during which he developed Somatic Experiencing, a therapeutic approach that has transformed modern therapy.
Bio: Peter A Levine, PhD, is the renowned developer of Somatic Experiencing, the founder and faculty of the Ergos Institute of Somatic Education, and the Founder and Advisor of Somatic Experiencing International. He holds a doctorate in medical and biological physics from the University of California at Berkeley and a doctorate in psychology from International University. The recipient of four lifetime achievement awards, Peter is the author of several world-renowned books, including Waking the Tiger, which has now been printed in 33 countries and has sold over a million copies.
“The most essential figure in the Somatic Therapy movement” – The New York Times

In The Autobiography of Trauma, Peter Levine shares his personal journey to heal his severe childhood trauma, describing the inner experience of being guided through Somatic Experiencing to untangle his traumatic wounds. He reveals the mysterious and unexpected dreams that have guided him through his life’s work as well as his breakthroughs on the path to create Somatic Experiencing.

Author and Woman Building an Empire, Zibby Owens
“NYC’s Most Powerful Book-fluencer” — Vulture
Bio: Zibby Owens is the author of Blank: A Novel, Bookends: A Memoir of Love, Loss and Literature and children’s book Princess Charming, and the editor of two anthologies. A frequent contributor to Good Morning America and other outlets, Zibby has been called “NYC’s Most Powerful Book-fluencer” (Vulture). Zibby is the creator and host of the award-winning, daily podcast Moms Don’t Have Time to Read Books, co-founder and CEO of publishing house Zibby Books, owner of Zibby’s Bookshop, an independent bookstore in Santa Monica, CA, and creator of “ the Zibby-verse” community of book lovers for which she offers retreats, classes, special events, a book club, a writing group, and more under the Zibby Media umbrella. A graduate of Yale University and Harvard Business School, Zibby currently lives in New York with her four children ages 9 to 16 and her husband Kyle Owens, co-president and founder of Morning Moon Productions. Follow her on Instagram @zibbyowens and Substack where she tells it like it is. www.zibbyowens.com
A wife, mother, and frustrated writer faces an impossible deadline for turning her life around in a hilarious debut novel about family, friendship, success, and exhilarating self-(re)discovery.
Pippa Jones is a fortyish former literary sensation who fears she will be a one-hit wonder. After the follow-up book she was almost done writing, Podlusters, had to be tossed (it ended up sharing a plot and title with superstar author Ella Rankin’s summer blockbuster!), she couldn’t write a thing. Months of staring at a blank page made her confidence vanish like a one-night stand. When she finds out that she has only five days left to finish (or rather, start) or repay an advance she’s already spent, Pippa has a brilliantly original idea. Okay, fine, her twelve-year-old son came up with it as a joke, but Pippa and her teenage daughter approved.
Pippa’s not only going to make a bold statement, but she’ll change the book world while she’s at it! Can she pull it off? At this point, she doesn’t have a choice.
When Pippa’s publisher gets intimately involved, it unlocks a series of plot twists she never saw coming. From the courtyards of posh Beverly Hills hotels and Malibu mega-mansions to Brentwood and Santa Monica bookstores, Pippa races against time―in her used Volvo―and discovers more about her career, marriage, family, friends, and herself than she ever could have dreamed up.
Tupelo Press
Session: What Every Writer Needs to Know About Small Publishers

Three Successful Small Publishers (Tupelo Press, Agate Press, and Ashland Creek Press) Discuss The Publishing Industry, Common Mistakes Writers Make, and Insider Tips to Connect with a Stellar Small Publisher
Kristina Marie Darling, Editor-in-Chief for Tupelo Press and Tupelo Quarterly
Bio: Kristina Marie Darling is the author of over thirty books. An expert consultant with the United States Fulbright Commission, a twice-awarded Fulbright Scholar, and a member of the peer review panel for Fulbright grants, Dr. Darling’s work has also been recognized with three residencies at Yaddo, where she has held the Martha Walsh Pulver Residency for a Poet and the Howard Moss Residency in Poetry, a 2024 Villa Lena Foundation Fellowship, a 2024 Civita Institute Fellowship, and ten juried residencies at the American Academy in Rome. Currently a faculty member at The Los Angeles Review of Books Publishing Workshop, she has taught at Yale University, the American University in Rome, Stanford University, where she leads a workshop in professional empowerment through their Continuing Studies Division, the New School, the University of Cyprus, San Diego State University, where she has served as Editor-in-Residence in partnership with Poetry International on three occasions, and in Cedar Crest College’s Pan-European M.F.A. Program. Dr. Darling currently teaches in the Maslow Family Graduate Program in Creative Writing at Wilkes University and will serve as Visiting Researcher at Universidad Complutense de Madrid for the 2025-2026 academic year. Born and raised in the American Midwest, she now divides her time between Greece, Madrid, and the Amalfi Coast.
Website: https://www.tupelopress.org/tupelo-team/
About Tupelo Press: Tupelo Press, Inc., which released its first five books in fall 2001, is an independent, literary press devoted to discovering and publishing works of poetry, literary fiction, and creative nonfiction by emerging and established writers. Tupelo Press is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit company. What we look for is a blend of urgency of language, imagination, distinctiveness, and craft. What we produce and how we produce it — from design to printing to paper quality — honors the writing in books which boast the uniquely sensual look and feel of a Tupelo Press book. Readers and writers alike have already come to recognize both the aesthetic appeal and unique literary merit of Tupelo publications. No other press in America approaches the production standards of Tupelo Press. Tupelo has quickly established itself as the new standard among independent literary presses.

Doug Seibold, Founder of Agate Publishing

Bio: Doug Seibold has been a writer, editor, and publisher for 40 years. In 2002, he founded Agate Publishing, based in Evanston, Illinois. Today, the company comprises four trade imprints, an educational content development division, and a new career development and training program for publishing launched in late 2023.

Website: https://www.agatepublishing.com/
About Agate Press: Chicago-based indie publisher of food and lifestyle books; leadership and business books; and literature for all ages from African American voices.
Latest news: Agate Rolls Out Its Publishing Academy
Doug Seibold, founder of Evanston, Ill.–based Agate Publishing, has begun the official rollout of the Agate Publishing Academy (APA). The goal of APA, Seibold said, is to provide an affordable professional development program for those interested in joining the publishing industry, as well as for publishing professionals looking to improve their understanding of the business.
Ashland Creek Press

Midge Raymond, Co-Founder, Author and Editor
Bio: Midge has more than twenty years of experience in writing, editing, and publishing. In addition to being a published fiction writer and journalist, she has worked as an editor and copywriter with several New York publishing houses, including Penguin and St. Martin’s.
She has held classes in writing and publishing at Boston’s Grub Street Writers, San Diego Writers, and Seattle’s Richard Hugo House, and for six years she taught communication writing at Boston University, where she earned her master’s degree in international communication. An award-winning writer, she has published dozens of short stories in literary magazines, including Bellevue Literary Review, TriQuarterly, Indiana Review, North American Review, Ontario Review, and the Los Angeles Times magazine, and has written articles about the art and craft of writing for such publications as Poets & Writers magazine and The Writer.
About: Ashland Creek Press is a boutique publisher dedicated to publishing books with a world view. We’re passionate about the environment, animal protection, ecology, and wildlife, and our goal is to publish books that combine these themes with compelling stories.
Our books have received critical acclaim from Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, Booklist, and Kirkus Reviews, among others, and have been recognized by national award juries, including the Chautauqua Institution and the Lambda Literary Foundation.
Website: https://ashlandcreekpress.com/
Praise for Ashland Creek Press
“In an atmosphere of increasingly dire predictions for the future of the printed book, Ashland Creek Press, a small publishing house based in Oregon, offers a flag not of surrender but of vigorous synergy and growth…The publishers are not only devoted to their authors, as evidenced by the loving care of editing, cover design, and publicity but are equally committed to the happiness of their readers, providing great works of stunning diversity…to thrill book readers everywhere.” — Huffington Post Books
Anastasia Zadeik
Session: Alternative Paths to Publishing with Award-Winning Author, Anastasia Zadeik
Anastasia Zadeik will discuss often uncovered paths to publishing to help writers break through myths and common misconceptions to uncover dynamic roads many writers miss.
Bio: Anastasia Zadeik is a writer, editor, and storyteller. After graduating from Smith College with a degree in psychology, she had an international career in neuropsychological research while raising her children. She now serves as Director of Communications for the San Diego Writers Festival, as a mentor for the literary nonprofit So Say We All, and as a board member for the International Memoir Writers Association.
Anastasia’s debut novel, Blurred Fates, won both the 2023 Sarton Award and the 2023 NIEA for Contemporary Fiction. Her second novel, The Other Side of Nothing (released May 28, 2024) was chosen as a Zibby Summer Read and was awarded the 2024 IPPY Gold for Popular Fiction.
Learn more about Anastasia on her website, www.anastasiazadeik.com (check out the storytelling videos!) and follow her on Instagram, Facebook, Threads, and X @anastasiazadeik.
A moving exploration of family, friendship, and how far we are willing to go for the ones we love, The Other Side of Nothing is a powerful read about loss, self-determination, and second chances.
2024 IPPY Awards Gold Medalist for Popular Fiction
2024 Zibby Summer Reads Selection
The day after her eighteenth birthday, Julia Reeves checks herself into a psychiatric facility, longing to find a way out of the grief and guilt that have engulfed her since her father’s untimely death. What she finds is fellow suicide attempt survivor Sam Lorenzo, a brilliant twenty-three-year-old photographer. Sam brings beauty and light back into Julia’s life, so when he asks her to escape with him on a cross-country odyssey, she agrees.
Before Julia can process what she’s done, the two young lovers are on the run.
When Julia’s mother, Laura, learns Julia has disappeared and authorities will do nothing to help find her, Laura forms an uneasy alliance with the sole person who has as much to lose as she does: Sam’s mother, Arabella. Armed with only a handful of clues, the two mothers embark on a journey of their own, desperately hoping to save their children before they are lost forever
Elizabeth Camarillo Gutierrez
Session: An Interview with celebrated Memoirist, Elizabeth Camarillo Gutierrez
IMWA President Tracy Jones Interviews author Elizabeth Camarillo Gutierrez about publishing her debut memoir, My Side of the River and what it meant to her to be a New York Times Editor’s Pick.
A New York Times Editor’s Pick
A People Magazine Best Book to Read in February
A Goodreads Most Anticipated Book of 2024
“My Side of the River is both fierce and poetic. It brilliantly reframes border writing while embracing nature and familial history. There are moments one sees greatness appear. This is one of those moments.” ―Luis Alberto Urrea, New York Times bestselling author of Good Night, Irene
Elizabeth Camarillo Gutierrez reveals her experience as the U.S. born daughter of immigrants and what happened when, at fifteen, her parents were forced back to Mexico in this captivating and tender memoir.
Born to Mexican immigrants south of the Rillito River in Tucson, Arizona, Elizabeth had the world at her fingertips. She was preparing to enter her freshman year of high school as the number one student when suddenly, her own country took away the most important right a child has: the right to have a family. When her parents’ visas expired and they were forced to return to Mexico, Elizabeth was left responsible for her younger brother, as well as her education. Determined to break the cycle of being a “statistic,” she knew that even though her parents couldn’t stay, there was no way she could let go of the opportunities the U.S. could provide. Armed with only her passport and sheer teenage determination, Elizabeth became what her school would eventually describe as an unaccompanied homeless youth, one of thousands of underage victims affected by family separation due to broken immigration laws.
My Side of the River explores separation, generational trauma, and the toll of the American dream. It’s also, at its core, a love story between a brother and a sister who, no matter the cost, is determined to make the pursuit of her brother’s dreams easier than it was for her.
Bio: Elizabeth Camarillo Gutierrez is a storyteller, advocate, and the author of, My Side of the Riber, a memoir published by St.Martins Press in February of 2024. Born and raised near the U.S.-Mexican border in Tucson, Arizona, Elizabeth’s upbringing was marked by resilience and determination. At 15, when her parents were forced to return to Mexico due to issues with their immigration status, Elizabeth chose to remain in the U.S., navigating homelessness while fiercely pursuing her education. Her journey from adversity to achievement culminated in her graduation as valedictorian, a testament to her unwavering resolve. Elizabeth then pursued higher education at the University of Pennsylvania, where she graduation in 2018. During her time at Penn, Elizabeth was selected as The Hispanic Scholarship Fund (HSF) Scholar of the year, as a U.S. Department of State Gilman Scholar, and as part of competitive business programs at both Harvard and Stanford. Since the publication of her memoir, My Side of the River, in February of 2024, she has been featured on Hola Magazine & NPR. Her book has also been praised as a New York Times Editor’s Pick, People Magazine Best Book to Read in February, and as one of Goodreads Most Anticipated Books of 2024.

Add to calendar

3 Secrets for Writing the Memoir Scene- An Interactive Workshop
2024-10-05 14:30 - 16:00 | ZOOM Online, CA, United States
Join us for this dynamic interactive workshop where you will learn 3 game-changing tools to write better scenes! In-class exercises! Take home tools! Bring 3 pages, and we will critique as many as possible! This session is for YOU!

Short Form Memoir: Poetry as Narrative with Katie Manning
2024-11-09 14:30 - 16:30 | ZOOM Online, CA, United States
Please join us for our November IMWA monthly meeting featuring award-winning poet Katie Manning, author of eight poetry collections.
An accessible and versatile form, the poetry chapbook is a collection of no more than 30 poems, united around a central theme. Along with the expediency and freedom of a contained, shorter project, the chapbook can offer writers the validation of early publication and serve as an entry point into biographical narratives that may later sustain a larger story. This discussion will cover tips on harnessing shorter poetic forms for memoir, both as standalone projects and as steps on a path toward shaping a book.
Author Bio: Katie Manning is the founding editor of Whale Road Review and a professor of writing at Point Loma Nazarene University. Winner of the Main Street Rag Poetry Book Award for Tasty Other, she’s the author of eight poetry collections, most recently Hereverent (Agape Editions, 2023) and How to Play (Louisiana Literature Press, 2022). Her writing has been featured on Poetry Unbound, Verse Daily, and many other venues. Find her online at katiemanningpoet.com.

10th Annual Memoir Showcase
2024-12-06 19:00 - 21:00 | David and Dorothea Garfield Theatre, 4126 Executive Dr., la Jolla, 92037, United States
The10th annual San Diego Memoir Showcase true-life stories based on the 2024 theme “But I Did It Anyway.” will be performed on stage by professional actors in a live show taking place one night only on Friday, December 6, 2024, at the David and Dorothea Garfield Theatre in the Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center located in La Jolla starting at 7:00 p.m.
This year’s winning performed pieces and 20 additional stories will be published in the Showcase Anthology Shaking the Tree: Brazen. Short. Memoir, Volume VIII.
GET TICKETS

The Girls of the Glimmer Factory Book Launch at the Coronado Public Library
2025-01-22 18:30 - 19:30 | Coronado Public Library, 640 Orange Ave, Coronado, CA, 92118
Author Jennifer Coburn – SDWF Instructor in Residence, launches her latest novel, The Girls of the Glimmer Factory at the Winn Room at the Coronado Library on January 22nd.

From the author of Cradles of the Reich comes a poignant and inspiring tale of resistance, friendship, and the dangers of propaganda, based on the real story of Theresienstadt, for fans of The Forest of Vanishing Stars and The German Wife.
Hannah longs for the days when she used to be free, but now, she is a Jewish prisoner at Theresienstadt, a model ghetto where the Nazis plan to make a propaganda film to convince the world that the Jewish people are living well in the camps. But Hannah will do anything to show the world the truth. Along with other young resistance members, they vow to disrupt the filming and derail the increasingly frequent deportations to death camps in the east.
Hilde is a true believer in the Nazi cause, working in the Reich Ministry of Enlightenment and Propaganda. Though they’re losing the war, Hilde hasn’t lost faith. She can’t stop the Allied bombings, but she can help the party create a documentary that will renew confidence in Hitler’s plans for Jewish containment. When the filming of Hitler Gives a City to the Jews faces production problems due to resistance, Hilde finds herself in a position to finally make a name for herself. And when she recognizes Hannah, an old childhood friend, she knows she can use their friendship to get the film back on track.
Reserve your seat

The Art of Essay Writing with Lisa Lee Herrick
2025-02-01 14:30 - 16:00 | ZOOM Online, CA, United States
Join us for our next IMWA meeting – The Art of Essay Writing with Lisa Lee Herrick.
Zoom information will be sent to all members. To renew your membership or join please email Tjjones1@gmail.com
About Lisa:
Lisa Lee Herrick is the daughter of Hmong refugees, and she is an award-winning Hmong-American writer, illustrator, and producer based in California. Her creative nonfiction is honored in the Best American Essays (2020; 2021) and Best American Food Writing 2020. In 2019, she was selected for a Writing X Writers fellowship at the Esalen Institute in California and named a finalist for the Paper Darts Short Fiction Prize. The following year, she was a finalist for the 2020 Ploughshares Emerging Writers’ Contest and longlisted for the Creative Capital Award. In May 2021, Lisa was awarded a PEN America Emerging Voices Fellowship and paired with best-selling Hmong American writer Kao Kalia Yang as her mentor. She was announced as a finalist for the Restless Books Prize for New Immigrant Writing 2021 in September, and she is working on her debut book—a memoir in essays—as well as several publishing projects examining contemporary issues affecting the Hmong in diaspora.
Lisa is also the co-founder of Fresno’s LitHop literary arts festival, which she started after a decade working in journalism and television, and currently serves as Editor-at-Large for Hyphen magazine. She is also a regular contributor to The Rumpus, Emergence Magazine, and advises nonprofit arts & public broadcasting organizations in media strategy and community outreach. She has been featured in and/or appeared on PBS, NPR, FOX, ABS-CBN, The Fresno Bee, the Houston Chronicle and others. She has a B.A. in Comparative Literature from the University of California, Davis, where her first published personal essay is permanently archived in the Department of English’s Prized Writing catalogue. Twitter: @lisaleeherrick

Shaking the Tree 6 Book Signing Event at Warwick's
2025-02-06 19:30 - 20:30 | Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla, CA, 92037, United States
Join us at Warwick’s on Thursday, February 6 at 7:30 p.m. to celebrate the publication of What Just Happened? and hear Robert Kirk, K’Cee Scoggins, Dr. Heather Berberet, Chuck Dunning, Suzi Finkelstein, and Nancy O’Sullivan read portions of their amazing stories. There will be book signings, raffles, and more!
Reserve your seat today here

Writing about Survival and Resilience: An Important Conversation with Memoirist Brittany Means
2025-03-01 14:30 - 16:30 | ZOOM Online, CA, United States
Please join us Saturday (3/1) at 2:30 p.m. PT for our March IMWA meeting with on “Writing About Survival and Resilience:” with memoirist Brittany Means, author of Hell If We Don’t Change Our Ways. Brittany is also a panelist at the San Diego Writers Festival this year!
Praise for Hell If We Don’t Change Our Ways:
A PEOPLE magazine pick, Best Books Fall 2023: “A breathtaking memoir about surviving a horrifying childhood; Means…transforms memories…into a work of art.”
Starred review from Kirkus: “This book is an outstanding debut…A harrowing and soulful memoir to be read, savored, and reread.”
“Brittany Means has pieced together the shards of a devastating childhood in this powerful memoir. It’s gut-wrenching but at the same time triumphant, harrowing yet exquisitely told. Hell If We Don’t Change Our Ways is a story of survival that left me choked up and cheering.”
–Jeannette Walls, author of The Glass Castle
About the Bestselling, Debut Memoir:
“I can’t write a story about myself as the sad, quiet child of two drug addicts. That’s not how it was, even when it was. To me, sleeping in the car was normal. Better, it was comfy and fun. I loved my bed made of clothes inside a trash bag that I sank into slowly like Uncle Fester from the Addams Family movie. . . . I loved the motels and their swimming pools and trashy daytime TV channels. . . . Nobody could tell us what to do.”
Brittany Means’s childhood was a blur of highways and traumas that collapsed any effort to track time. Riding shotgun as her mother struggled to escape abusive relationships, Brittany didn’t care where they were going―to a roadside midwestern motel, a shelter, or The Barn in Indiana, the cluttered mansion her Pentecostal grandparents called home―as long as they were together. But every so often, her mom would surprise her―and leave.
As Brittany grew older and questioned her own complicated relationships and the poverty, abuse, and instability that enveloped her, she began to recognize that hell wasn’t only the place she read about in the Bible; it was the cycle of violence that entrapped her family. Through footholds such as horror movies, neuropsychology, and strong bonds, Brittany makes sense of this cycle and finds a way to leave it.
While untangling the web of her most painful memories, Brittany crafts a tale of self-preservation, resilience, and hope with a unique narrative style―a sparkling example of the human ability to withstand the most horrific experiences and still thrive

2025 San Diego Writers Festival
2025-04-05 08:00 - 17:00 | Coronado Public Library, 640 Orange Ave, Coronado, CA, 92118

Creativity as a Solution for the Heaviness of Reality
2025-05-03 14:30 - 16:30 | ZOOM Online, CA, United States
Ray Bradbury said, “You must stay drunk on writing, so reality doesn’t destroy you.”

Jill Badonsky agrees and explains how creativity’s altered state keeps us buoyed even when harsh reality gives us a sinking feeling daily. Creativity is remembering who we are and, as we do, unearthing stories of resilience, compassion, and authenticity. Join Jill for an interactive workshop where you will explore prompts and inspiration that will take your personal stories deeper.

Jill Badonsky is an inspirational humorist and author/illustrator of three books on the creative process, creator and founder of Kaizen-Muse Creativity Coaching Certification training, playwright, and international retreat leader.
