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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

  • September 14 – Festival U: Online Day of Learning with World-Class Talent
  • 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.

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Be sure to add info@sandiegowritersfestival.com to your address book!

Our Yearly In-Person Festival will take place on April 5, 2025, on Beautiful Coronado Island.
Stay tuned for announcements about our stellar lineup!
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Festival U 2024: A Full Day of Authors, Agents and Publishers - Our SDWF Annual Fundraiser

One Day ~ Online ~ 7 Amazing Workshops for Only $60

Spaces are limited. Grab yours now!
SDWF-U is our yearly fundraiser and online day of learning. (This fundraiser helps keep the in-person Festival 100% FREE to the public.) The festival program runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and includes 7 stellar classes, workshops, panels, and discussions with world-class talent. San Diego Writers Festival is proud to partner with Barnes and Noble booksellers.
This year, our focus is on all things PUBLISHING. Four authors, two agents, and three publishers will offer guidance and professional insight to assist you on your journey to write and publish your book.

Spaces are limited. Grab yours now!
SDWF-U is our yearly fundraiser and online day of learning. (This fundraiser helps keep the in-person Festival 100% FREE to the public.) The festival program runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and includes 7 stellar classes, workshops, panels, and discussions with world-class talent. San Diego Writers Festival is proud to partner with Barnes and Noble booksellers.
This year, our focus is on all things PUBLISHING. Four authors, two agents, and three publishers will offer guidance and professional insight to assist you on your journey to write and publish your book.

Schedule (all times are PDT)

  • 10 am – New York Times Bestselling Author Chip ConleyDiscusses his new book, Learning to Love Midlife (As Featured on Oprah)
  • 11 am – What Every Writer Should Know about Small Publishers: Meet Successful Publishers from Tupelo Press, Ashland Creek Press, and Agate Press
  • 12 pm – The Pulse of Publishing Today – Alternatives to Publishing Panel with Award-Winning Author Anastasia Zadeik and Agent April Eberhardt
  • 1 pm – Famed Psychologist and Author Peter A. Levine in conversation with Marni about his new book, An Autobiography of Trauma: A Healing Journey
  • 2 pm – Agent Elise Capron, in our famous ASK-AN-AGENT-ANYTHING session. Bring your questions.
  • 3 pm – Zibby Owens discusses Blank and the trends she sees in the publishing industry.
  • 4 pm – Elizabeth Camarillo Gutierrez discusses her memoir, My Side of the River, and what it meant to be a NY Times Editor’s pick.
Registration Opens Soon

Writing about how much Marni Freedman has impacted my life is difficult. Difficult because I could fill two volumes with descriptive phrases that apply to this very gifted writing coach and mentor. Her ability to assess my writing and offer concrete tools, processes, and possible plans of action is what enabled me to grow my writing. With her guidance, I have succeeded with my personal writing goals. When I met Marni, I lacked confidence and clarity, but I have gained both. Marni met me where I was and gently nudged me forward. I thank her for being patient and supportive in my becoming a better writer. I am fortunate to have her in my life.

Janet Hafner

Shaking the Tree Author
Wonderfully, Marni is not just a great writing coach. Each session, when we begin our work together, she invites me to share how I am doing not only with the writing but also about where I am in my life in any way that might impact the writing process. She provides a brief counseling session as I talk about the parts of my history that have kicked my butt in particular. For me, writing about the abuse in my childhood has plenty of opportunity to stir up lots of old hurt feelings. Marni helps me navigate the hard stuff to turn it into good stuff. I am very grateful for her teaching and her guidance.

It is one year since I started my creative writing work with Ms. Freedman. I was very pleased and honored to win a spot in the Showcase Memoir Event in December 2021 under Marni’s thoughtful support.

Paul Steinkoenig

Shaking the Tree Author

One of Marni’s gifts to developing writers is her ability to recognize the scope of our talent. She then provides unfailing encouragement, sincere friendship, and a broad scope of expertise to see our projects to completion. In the many years we have worked together, I have seen her nudge writers to mold an unwieldy narrative into a tight memoir, a rambling fiction into a punchy thriller, and a collection of travel experiences into a hilarious novel. Into the bargain, she weaves a tight web of professional and personal support, not only with the aspiring but also with the published among us. She’s a treasure, and I am proud to be part of her tribe.

Nancy G. Villalobos

Shaking the Tree Author
I learned to write in the “just the facts ma’am” style and third person dispassionate voice. Hence, my first attempt at a memoir was dry as toast and about as personal as a letter from the IRS. A friend referred me to Marni, and she opened me to a whole new way of writing. She knows how to ask the unasked questions and open the doors that I didn’t even know were closed. She certainly knows writing, but she also is very skilled at probing to open my own mind. I believe I am a much better, authentic writer. I am also finding the journey so much rewarding and therapeutic.

Chuck Dunning

Shaking the Tree Author

IMWA Memoir Showcase

The Memoir Showcase is our annual 5-page true-story writing contest. The top 8-10 pieces will be chosen to be performed on stage on Dec 6, 2024. The top 30 pieces will published in our award-winning anthology, Shaking The Tree: Brazen. Short. Memoir
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
Submissions will be read and judged by a panel of judges. Eight to ten winning pieces will be selected (top eight to ten submissions) and notified by October that they will be in the Memoir Showcase. (These eight to ten stories plus an additional twenty pieces will be featured in the Showcase anthology, Shaking the Tree: Brazen. Short. Memoir, Volume VIII.)

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.

Submission Guidelines

The Best Book Club On Earth: Read the Book Meet the Author

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.

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Join the book club - here’s what we are reading

Get Marni’s Exclusive Writing Tools

Ready to start writing today? Kickstart Your Writing Journey by Downloading Marni’s Tools on Plot, Story Idea, Scene Writing, Character Arc, Archetypes, Creative Flow and More!

 

15 Plot Spots - Your Go-ToPlotting Tool
11 Commandments For Writing a First Draft
The Checklist for Effective Scene Writing
How to Craft a Solid Core Idea
Character Arc for Memoir Writers
How to Unblock and Enter the Creative Flow
Big List of 52 Archetypes - A Tool for Character Creation

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