Mailer headlines writers’ workshops

Two-time Pulitzer Prize winning novelist Norman Mailer will deliver the keynote address at the 32nd Annual Florida Suncoast Writers’ Conference at USF’s St. Petersburg campus this weekend.

The conference, which Writer’s Digest magazine designated as one of the “Top 10 Workshops/Conferences for Writers in the U.S.,” will offer writers a chance to attend up to 48 workshops and meet and learn from professional authors, editors, publishers and agents.

The three other featured speakers at the conference are Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, Robert Olen Butler and Verlyn Klinkenborg.

Divakaruni is the author of 14 books, including poetry, short stories and novels. Her work has also been translated into 13 different languages.

Butler has published 10 novels and two volumes of short stories, one of which, A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain, won the 1993 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

Klinkenborg is a member of The New York Times editorial board and his work has appeared in many publications, including The New Yorker, Harper’s, Esquire, National Geographic, The New Republic, Smithsonian, Audubon, GQ, Gourmet, Martha Stewart Living, Sports Afield and The New York Times Magazine.

According to the USF English Department’s Web site, topics for the workshops offered this weekend include the novel, the short story, nonfiction books and articles, poetry, memoir, mystery and suspense, fantasy, travel writing, children’s and young adult literature and various other subjects related to today’s markets and opportunities for writers.

One of the featured writers in this year’s conference, Divakaruni, will offer an advance presentation in the TECO Room in the College of Education at 7 p.m. The event, which is open to the public, is sponsored by the Suncoast Writers Conference and co-sponsored by the USF Humanities Institute.

In addition to the workshops and speakers, the conference will also include a manuscript reading and consultation service, book signing opportunities, special programs and social events planned for exchanging ideas.

The conference is sponsored by the USF Department of English, the College of Arts and Sciences, USF Educational Outreach — Continuing Education, the USF Humanities Institute, the USF St. Petersburg Student Government and the St. Petersburg Times, among others.

The conference will take place at the USF St. Petersburg campus Friday through Sunday. For more information on the times the sessions will be offered, visit http://english.cas.usf.edu/fswc . Late registration, after Jan. 26, is priced at $245 for all of the workshops throughout the weekend.