Wild About Writers Conference

Writers from throughout the Bay Area will gather for a unique, daylong writing conference. The museum's first annual Wild About Writers Celebration will give participants the chance to hone their craft, find inspiration, and network-all at one of the region's best-known wildlife centers.

The retreat will focus on a writer's inspiration and craft, the use of metaphor and, of course, how writers can relate to nature and natural history. Proceeds benefit Lindsay Wildlife Museum, which connects people with wildlife to inspire responsibility and respect for the natural world we share.

Some of the best Bay Area writers and teachers will conduct workshops and hold office hours for individual coaching in fiction, nonfiction and poetry. Keynote speakers include Malcolm Margolin, author and publisher of Heyday Books. Other events include panels on craft, storytelling and the natural world, presentations by Lindsay Wildlife Museum staff, access to the museum's exhibits including live, wild animals, breakfast, lunch, and a wine-and-cheese mingle for participants to get to know one another.

A contest will offer cash prizes for fiction, nonfiction and poetry, and winners can read their works during the wine-and-cheese mingle.

Registration forms are available online at wildlife-museum.org/visit/special-events or at the event website, wildaboutwriters.wordpress.com. A full listing of event faculty and the day's calendar is available at the WAW website. Questions about the conference should be directed to wildaboutwriters@gmail.com. Contest queries should be directed to contestwildaboutwriters@gmail.com.