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Community is my passion.
As Festival Director and Founder of the International Memoir Writers Association, I am delighted to announce our year-round programming online and in person.
Quick Snapshot of Events
- October 8 – SDWF celebrates our Poet-in-Residence Gill Sotu as he launches his new book Equally Strange, Beautifully Different – Poems
- December 6 – The 10th Annual Memoir Showcase: But I Did It Anyway
- January 2025 – SDWF celebrates historical fiction author and Instructor-in-Residence Jennifer Coburn as she launches her new book, The Girls of the Glimmer Factory
- April 5, 2025 – The 6th Annual San Diego Writers Festival on beautiful Coronado Island
Year Round
The San Diego Writers Festival
The San Diego Writers Festival is a FREE Writers Festival that is made possible by the generous support of our sponsors, exhibitors, and volunteers. We get to meet leading voices in all realms of the writing world. It’s an honor to be at the forefront of creative voices in fiction, nonfiction, journalism, screenwriting, genre writing, memoir, songwriting, poetry, comic books, and publishing. Please support our sponsors and exhibitors by visiting their profile pages.
Be in the know
Subscribe to get all the juicy details and chances to win free books.
Be sure to add info@sandiegowritersfestival.com to your address book!
Stay tuned for announcements about our stellar lineup!


IMWA Memoir Showcase
10th Annual Memoir Showcase Submissions Open From June 12 to August 18
Performance will be on December 6, 2024
Theme: But I Did It Anyway
Winning showcase writers will be assigned a writing coach to help refine their story for the stage.
About The International Memoir Writers Association
Founded in 2016, The International Memoir Writers Association is a community of writers committed to the craft and business of memoir writing. Our purpose is to create a community of inspired, nurtured, and educated memoirists and non-fiction writers. We host monthly member meetings with speakers who educate our writers on both the craft and business of memoir writing. Writers of all levels are welcome and encouraged to join.

About Shaking the Tree – Our Award-Winning Anthology
The International Memoir Writers Association is proud to present a selection of the most compelling, true stories from their annual Memoir Showcase contests. These pivotal portraits speak to our diverse community and its willingness to share the most challenging, awe-inspiring moments that make up the human experience. The stories within these pages are breathtaking. You can’t make this stuff up.
Note: To be published in Shaking the Tree, you will need to submit your 5-page true story to the Memoir Showcase contest. This year’s theme is “But I Did it Anyway.” See full guidelines below.
The Warwick’s + San Diego Writers Festival Book Club
Since 2020, the Warwick’s + SDWF Book Club has met virtually four times a year to interview up-and-coming and best-selling authors. The best part? This book club is run by writers for writers, so this is a rare “spoiler event,” where we get to ask our authors anything and everything about how these page-turning novels or memoirs came together. It’s an hour of learning, discovery, insight, and inspiration as Tracy J. Jones interviews these amazing writers. And you can send in your questions, too! It’s a way for the San Diego Writers Festival community to be engaged all year.
