At my first Santa Barbara Writers Conference, the question was, “What do you do?” Writing has always been my love, but no way could I say, “I am a writer.”
By the end of that week in 1978, I was saying, “I’m going to be a writer.” Upon my return in 1979, I spoke with confidence, “I am a writer.” SBWC has put me on a curvy, sometimes-upside-down and remarkable path ever since.
The conference begins this Sunday (June 17-22 at the Santa Barbara Hyatt Centric hotel), a place for writers but also for readers to hear featured speakers and panelists at 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. A special tribute to the late Sue Grafton will be included June 20 with Fannie Flagg participating, another well-known author whose 1977 attendance began her highly successful writing life.
I’ve always wondered how the conference affects others. My rough math tells me that about 14,000 or more have attended since Barnaby and Mary Conrad began the conference at Cate School in 1972. Several are flourishing writers in our community, and many teach SBWC workshops. Some have commented on their experiences.
“She recommended me along with longtime conference teacher Bill Downey (Santa Barbara News-Press journalist) to teach a poetry workshop in 1984. I was riddled with fear at the prospect as I had no published book at the time and offered other poets’ names. Barnaby Conrad and Paul Lazarus (co-directors) assured me I’d be just ‘right’ and didn’t need a Pulitzer to teach it.
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