About the Kanab Writers Conference
The Kanab Writers Conference began in 2010 as “Writers of the Purple Sage,” a nod to Zane Grey and his use of Kane County as a setting in some of his westerns. It was hosted by the Kane County Center for Education, Business, and the Arts (CEBA). In those days the conference was smaller and focused on different genres of writing, for example, historic fiction or poetry, each year.
In 2013, the focus of the writers conference shifted to a broader base and targeted presentations directed more toward building individual writing skills. Under the direction of Liz Adair, the event was renamed the Kanab Writers Conference.
Since that time, the conference has grown into a diverse and inspiring community with presenters and attendees from all over the country and every walk of the publishing life. Every year more and more world-class authors, publishers and editors join our faculty. We look forward to your participation since every new writer brings something new and unique to our community.
Located in Kanab, Utah, where the cliffs are red, the scenery is awe-inspiring, and the folks are friendly. We’re close to Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, The Grand Canyon, Grand Staircase-Escalante Monument, Lake Powell, and several other interesting sites.
The Kanab Center will be hosting our conference this year. We’re so excited to be meeting in this beautiful building, right in the center of town.
The conference has been postponed until November 4-6, 2021 due to COVID-19.
Each element of the conference is separate, with its own pricing structure.
The Thursday evening and Friday evening community events are free and open to the public, including the locals from Kanab and surrounding areas.
The Plein Air hike and retreat will be $10.00.
The Self-Publishing seminar presented by Eschler Editing will be $40.00.
The Annual Writing Conference will be $100.00.
An early bird discount of $25.00 will be offered until August 30th.
If you purchase the plein air hike and retreat, it costs $10. Included in that is:
- Plein Air hike, led by local experts with free writing time
- snacks
- Writing retreat and critique party
- motivational keynote by J. Scott Savage
- Self-Publishing Seminar presented by Eschler Editing
- Friday lunch
- 45 breakout sessions on Friday and Saturday
- Friday Dinner
- Book signing and community event with Carol Ormond
- Saturday keynote address by Amy Harmon
- Saturday lunch
- Publishers panel
- Inclusion in the bookstore, if desired
- inclusion in the anthology project for 2020
For an additional cost, you can purchase the following:
- Pitch session with Cate Hart
- Pitch session with Immortal Works
- Pitch session with Pink Umbrella Books
- Manuscript Consult with Cate Hart
- Manuscript Consult with Erin Olds
- Manuscript consult with Pink Umbrella Books
- Entry into the KWC First K writing contest
Registration is here on our website through our online store.
You can register, beginning on May 1st.
An early bird discount will be available through December 31st, 2020. After that day, full price will apply. You can register any time before November 2021.
You can also register at the door, but the price will go up another $25.00.
Yes! Our facility will only allow for 150 people to comfortably fit in the ballroom, so we are capping our registration at 150 this year. We expect to sell out before the conference, so be sure to sign up early. Make sure your friends sign up early!
The deadline for 2019’s anthology has already passed, but we’ll be accepting submissions for this year’s anthology from our conference community soon. We want you to submit pieces using the things you learned from this year’s conference, whether it’s a piece you started on the plein air hike or a piece you edited with something you learned in a class. Watch for information about the anthology, how to submit and where to purchase it on our social media.
Anyone who is registered for any part of the conference can participate in the contest. Just purchase a contest entry and follow the submission guidelines to make sure your entries is included in the contest.
Anyone who is registered to attend or present at the conference is welcome to sell something in our bookstore. We take care of all the sales tax and licenses so you don’t have to worry about that. There will be a checkbox to select when you register for the conference. We invite the community of Kanab and surrounding areas to come to the bookstore, so we hope you’ll have a lot of sales!
*Due to COVID and the postponement of the conference, our digital bookstore will have different policies. Please email us for inclusion in the 2020 bookstore.
Weather here in November can be really beautiful, but it is Fall, so a sweater might be a good addition to your suitcase. The daytime temperatures average around 60*, but it drops to the mid 30s at night. If there is inclement weather, the hike might be cancelled.
If there is something that you want to know and haven’t been able to find the answer, you can email us at kanabwritersconference@gmail.com or you can ask us on our facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/kanabwritersconf/
