Friday, April 24

3-4:30 p.m. - Registration. Location: Pre-Function

Pre-Conference Masterclasses

(Masterclasses are add-on events for conference registrants with an $85 additional fee. Contact administrator@myscwa.org for assistance.)

3-4 p.m. - Masterclass #1 (Albers): Andrew Geyer: Make it POP! How to Nail the Opening of Your Manuscript

3-4 p.m. – Masterclass #2 (Aswana): Speaker and topic TBA

5-7:30 p.m. – Welcome, Dinner and Keynote Speaker Dan Leach (Albers): The World at Your Window: Art in Times of Crisis

Keynote Address: Dan Leach, Charleston Southern University and fiction and poetry author
The World at Your Window: Art in Times of Crisis
What is the task of the writer in times when the world feels fractured or unbearable? How do we create work that offers beauty and complexity when so much of what we encounter (especially in digital spaces) feels reductive and crude? What texts teach us how to write about a reality that feels increasingly fractious and strange? Using books such as Annie Dillard's Pilgrim at Tinker Creek and Thomas Lynch's The Undertaking, in addition to lyrics from John K. Samson and Fleet Foxes, Leach seeks out literary models for making art during a time of crisis.

7:30-9 p.m. – Open Mic (Albers)

Attendees have the chance to read short pieces and get instant feedback from fellow writers and editors. Bring your pieces with you and get ready to take your writing to another level.

Saturday, April 25

7:30 a.m. – Registration (Pre-function area)

7:30-9 a.m. – Continental breakfast (The Collection)

9-10 a.m. – Welcome, Announcements and Keynote by Caleb Wygal (The Collection): From Brain Surgery to Career: Novelist Rebuilding a Writing Life

Keynote Address: Caleb Wygal, award-winning novelist
After surviving a traumatic brain injury that required him to relearn fundamental skills, Wygal rebuilt his writing life from the ground up. He is the author of 13 novels, including the award-winning Myrtle Beach Mystery series and the Lucas Caine Adventure series. His books have received national recognition and have been honored with multiple awards and short-listed for others. A member of International Thriller Writers and Mystery Writers of America, Wygal also has taught mystery writing through the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Coastal Carolina University.

10-11 a.m. – Ginny Padget Student Award Winners Readings (The Collection)

Three young, talented student writers were winners of the Ginny Padget Award in Creative Writing, the student component of The Petigru Review. These students will read selections from their winning submissions. The award is presented annually for outstanding achievement in writing by a student author. It is presented by SCWA in honor of the late Virginia Lynn (Giny) Padgett, a South Carolina native, University of South Carolina graduate and former SCWA president. She was an accomplished storyteller, and the award honors her love for writing anf her dedication to education.

11-11:30 a.m. – Break

11:30 a.m.-12:30 a.m. – Breakout Sessions A

Breakout #1 (Aswana) – Tayler Simon: Writing Our Truths: Social Justice Storytelling

Writers have the power to reflect truth back to our society. With the power of the pen, we can use our craft for social good. Simon will teach writers of all levels and genres how they can use their talent to advocate for social justice. Attendee takeaways: Using storytelling for social justice. Subtle ways to add messaging to all genres. Other ways we can use writing for social justice.

Breakout #2 (Noland) – Topic and speaker TBA

Breakout #3 (Albers) – Pam Stone: Thinking Outside the Box

The award-winning actress, comedian, writer and talk show host, will discuss creative ways to hone one’s skills as a writer and how to market and sell what you write.

12:30-2 p.m. – Lunch on your own in downtown

p.m. – Breakout Sessions B

Breakout #1 (Aswana) – Rick Mulkey: Poetic Design: Organizing Your Poetry Manuscript

The poet Robert Frost wrote that “If there are twenty-five poems in a book, the book itself ought to be the twenty-sixth poem.” Writing individual poems and structuring a poetry collection require slightly different skills sets. Poet Rick Mulkey will discuss various strategies, pitfalls and options available to writers as they go about collecting and organizing individual poems into a book-length manuscript. Attendee Takeaways: Discover organizational models for your manuscript. Discover principles of balance and contrast you need for a successful collection. Discover the difference between a manuscript that is book strong vs. contest ready.

Breakout #2 (Noland) – Susan Zurenda: Reflections on Turning Life into Fiction

This award-winning South Carolina author will discuss how she has taken real-life situations and made them into her engaging fiction novels.

Breakout #3 (Albers) – The Petigru Review (TPR) Panel: Publishing: Things That Go Bump in the Night

Managing editor Andrew Geyer and assistant editor Sara Sobota of The Petrigru Review will discuss this year’s theme of “Things That Go Bump in the Night,” and making practical manuscript writing/preparation/submission recommendations about litmags in general and this year’s TPR issue in particular. Special emphasis will be placed on making your manuscript stand out from the crowd.

3:10-4:10 p.m.– Breakout Sessions C

Breakout #1 (Aswana) – Topic and speaker TBA

Breakout #2 (Noland) – Topic and speaker TBA

Breakout #3 (Albers) – Publishing Panel: Publishing Today: Models, Realities, and Strategic Choices

Led by Michael J. McGandy, director of the University of South Carolina Press, a panel of publishing professionals will share ideas and best practices to help authors understand and work within an increasingly complex publishing marketplace. From business models to query letters, the panelists will share from their years of experience, provide insight and dispel mistaken impressions about publishing. Ample time will be reserved for questions and answers. Panelists include Alison Mero, Clemson University Press; Amy Trainor Ashby, Warren Publishing; Dakota McElhinny, SCWA president and self-published author; Lib Ramos, Good Printed Things; and Andrew Mack, Loblolly Press.

4:10-5:30 p.m. – Afternoon breaktime on your own

5:30-7 p.m. – Wine and cheese/snack reception at Hub City Books, just across the street from the AC Hotel.

Hub City Press, the South’s premier independent literary press, will host this special SCWA networking reception on Independent Bookstore Day. The press celebrated 30 years in 2025. Focused on finding and spotlighting extraordinary new and unsung writers from the American South, its curated list champions diverse authors and books that don’t fit into the commercial publishing landscape. By offering these voices a national platform, the press works to transform and expand the national perception of the American South in literature and beyond.

7 p.m. – Dinner on your own in downtown Spartanburg

Sunday, April 26

8-9:30 a.m. – Continental breakfast and SCWA Annual Meeting (The Collection)

10-11 a.m. – Special speaker: TBA

11 a.m.-noon - Final keynote, Dr. Stacey Hettes: Topic and description TBA

As Professor Hettes, her classes focus as much on neuroscience's beauty and wonder as its facts and theories. Fellow faculty members see her as a fair but outspoken leader on a campus steeped in the blended patriarchies of academia and southern gentility. At an emotionally charged forum on sexual violence, she takes a stand against a colleague's reckless verbal assault, outing herself as a sexual abuse survivor in the process. Professor Hettes must continue her work even as Stacey finds herself resubmerged in the sights, sounds and smells of her memories with Mr. Jay, a Pentecostal church deacon. With exceptional candor, her book, Dispatches from the Couch, invites readers to take a seat beside her in the office of her new therapist, Piper. This debut memoir reveals the laborious, complex, but promising work of revisiting the past in order to extract its remnants of shame and loneliness from the present.

Other planned afternoon activities TBA.