When Jim Brock, poet extraordinaire and conference brainchild, stopped me in the hall in fall 2005 and said, "Let's form a committee to start an annual writers conference on Sanibel Island," I joined on the spot because, well, it involved Jim, and it meant we had a chance of bringing some of our favorite writers to the area. Jim drafted the initial proposal and budget, and enlisted Kimberly Campanello, Jesse Millner, Adrian Greene, Ingrid Martinez-Rico, Karen Tolchin, Jim Robison, Mary Ferarro, Jane Meek, and Lori Cornelius to lend their wisdom and talent to the cause. We made a list of the writers we'd like to invite, and somehow managed to be productive, focused and agreeable. You wouldn't be reading these words were it not for the committee members' individual commitment and collective effort. Thanks to them all for pitching in and making a molehill out of a mountain chain.
Thanks to former Chairs Dr. Brad Busbee and Dr. Myra Mendible, former Dean Donna Henry, Vice President Steve Magiera, and former President William C. Merwin for flashing the green light and cutting the red tape. It is an understatement to say that your vision and enthusiasm, your monetary and moral support, and your acknowledgment of how important creative writing is at Florida Gulf Coast University made all this possible.
A special thanks to the eternally optimistic and encouraging former chair of the Department of Language & Literature, Dr. Joe Wisdom. He lives up to his name and exudes a serenity that lowers my pulse. Joe also owns a truck that can haul lots of refreshments.
Erica Krueger, Molly Creeger, Lynne Garcia, Dewie Robinson, Raymond Rodrigues, Niki Costantino & Patricia Rice: thanks for keeping track of everything I forget.
Especially huge shout outs & bottomless gratitude to:
President Michael V. Martin;
Provost James Llorens;
Former President Wilson G. Bradshaw & Joanna Bradshaw;
Former Provost Ronald Toll & Kathy Toll;
CAS Dean Robert Gregerson;
Department of Language & Literature Chair, Dr. Kimberly Jackson;
Jason Elek, Kelly Davis, Lori & John Cornelius, and the ground team of volunteers;
My colleagues in the Department of Language & Literature;
Former Dean Donna Henry;
The FGCU Foundation;
Dr. Jim Wohlpart and his wife Sasha Wohlpart;
Everyone at the Town & Gown Association;
Everyone at The Center for Environmental and Sustainability Education;
Everyone at Community Relations and Marketing;
Jeff Weigel and the Sanibel Deli;
Amy Shearer Costello and everyone at Point Ybel Brewing Company;
Chef Karl Hamme and the Sanible Catering Company;
Dr. Charles (billY) Gunnels and everyone at FGCU Scholars;
Lee Ellen, Marina, Chris, and everyone at BIG ARTS;
Jeff Cull, Nancy Stetson, and everyone at Florida Weekly;
Nancy McPhee and everyone at the Lee County Visitors and Convention Bureau and MMGY Global;
Darina Nikolov, Donna Stremke, Meghan Hian, Kay Hubbard, and everyone in the Office of Research and Graduate Studies.
It’s an understatement to say that your vision and enthusiasm, your monetary and moral support, and your acknowledgment of how important creative writing is at Florida Gulf Coast University makes all this possible. Bless you for making the conference not just survive; bless you for making it thrive.
FGCU's Creative Writing Club, members past & present, particularly founding officers Amy Ortolano, Andrew Schmid, Ally Wickman, and Kaleena Deland-Zepeda. High-fives to Makeda Amadi, Andrea McCrary, Michael Grissom, Courtney Spencer, and Shannon Crandall, for demonstrating initiative, intelligence, humor, and keen fashion sense;
Kevin Toler at Tolervision, for his design artistry;
Lourdes Méndez Germain, for her keen aesthetic sense and wonderful images;
Susanna Wohlpart, for her gorgeous photographs of Sanibel;
Dr. Tunde Szecsi, Dr. Lois Christensen, and Dr. Marcia Greene for their generosity and partnership;
Cindy Chinelly, for her sage advice, tasty bran muffins, and organic green tea;
The Sanibel Island Public Library, for the classroom space;
Dan Morgan, for the music equipment;
the Everham Clan, for all those canoes;
Alison Granucci and everyone at Blue Flower Arts;
the West Wind Inn, Sundial Resort, and Sanibel Resort, for the rooms with a view of every Sanibel sunset;
The whole gang at the Gulf Coast Writers Association;
Philip Heubeck, Lauren Baker, Pavol Roskovensky, Benjamin Shea Lindner, Andrew Morris and Joseph Kakareka, for the posters;
Mary Lou Hess and the Florida Writers Association, for spreading the word;
Andrea DeMarchi, for making 150 conference tote bags in 24 hours;
William, Kathleen, and Michael DeMarchi, for the support and encouragement;
Karen Tolchin & Charlie DeMarchi, for inspiration.
Thanks to everyone—colleagues & friends—who offered advice, donated time & money, volunteered, and helped promote the conference, including—but certainly not limited to—Etienne Wasson, Audrea Anderson, Kristen Vaughn, Glenn Miller, Sterling Watson, Kelly McCarthy, Joe Pacheco, Marta Lee, Christine Caya, Karyn Everham, Alejandro Oquendo, Joe Higgins, Julie Ann Howell, Karen Sloan, Kristin Nail, Chealsye Bowley, Edward Livesay, Dan Stanford, Becky Donlan, Karen Lynch, Rachel Wise, Rob Hiatt, Phoebe Azran, Ron Hefner, Susan Holland, Robert and Tracy Jones, Tristan Dufresne, Martha Rosenthal, Debbie Lewis, Susan Haley, Bud & Lee Willis, Phil Carter, Matthew Jacobson, Angel Taylor, and Morgan Souza, John Bond, Tanya Hochschild, Kevin Aho, Linda DiGloria, Sheila Bolduc-Simpson, Valerie Donovan, Britta Schulze, Mary & Sam Walch, Hillary Kaufman, Maria Roca, Jonathan Rose & Laura McDermott (of the excellent Palm Beach Poetry Festival), Amy Towne, Andrew Foley and everyone at Sarasota News & Books, Don Selby & Diane Boller at Poetry Daily, the folks at ShawGuides.com, Hollie at the Sanibel Island Bookshop, Theresa Acker, Laura Jensen and the whole staff at Follett, Amy Tardif, Conan Griffin & Julie Hoffman, Cathy Chestnut, Linda Campbell, Phil Thompson, and all the people who told their friends, announced it in their classes, hung up flyers, and forwarded e-mails. If you helped in any way and I neglected to list your name, give me a nuggie next time we cross paths.
To authors/workshop leaders/editors/agents, past and present, for writing so many words worth reading:
Erin Almond
Steve Almond
Jonathan Ames
Laura Apperson
MK Asante
Andrea Askowitz
Julianna Baggott
Lynne Barrett
Jordan Bass
Ishmael Beah
Sandra Beasley
Jenny Bent
Dan Bern
Jill Bialosky
Emily Black
Richard Blanco
Charles Bock
Lisa Borders
John Brandon
Eve Bridburg
Stanley Brinks
Jim Brock
Derrick C. Brown
Nickole Brown
Christine Buckley
Don Bullens
Augusten Burroughs
Robert Olen Butler
Bonnie Jo Campbell
Kevin Canty
Nick Carbo
Margaret Cardillo
Ron Carlson
Christopher Castellani
Tom Chiarella
Alicia Lynn Clancy
Kevin Clark
Brock Clarke
Camille Cline
Sloane Crosley
Eugene Cross
Ron Currie Jr.
Jim Daniels
Edwidge Danticat
John Darnielle
Dean Davis
Erica Dawson
Larry Doyle
Andre Dubus III
John Dufresne
Denise Duhamel
Camille Dungy
Carmen Edington
Janice Eidus
Stephen Elliott
Wayne Falbey
Beth Ann Fennelly
Craig Finn
Nick Flynn
Gina Frangello
Emily Franklin
Tom Franklin
Lisa Gallagher
Roxane Gay
Robert Gelinas
William Giraldi
Tod Goldberg
Taylor Goldsmith
Ben Greenman
William Greenway
Stephanie Elizondo Griest
Jim Gustafson
Barbara Hamby
Artis Henderson
Sue Henshon
Kristin Hersh
Michael Hettich
Carl Hiaasen
Nathan Hill
Shane Hinton
Alice Hoffman
Ann Hood
Jay Hopler
John Hoppenthaler
Karl Iagnemma
Kristen Iversen
Major Jackson
Jessica Jacobs
Leslie Jamison
Kimberly Johnson
Christopher Joyce
Heidi Julavits
Sue Monk Kidd
David Kirby
Walter Kirn
Steve Kistulentz
Keith Kopka
Christina Baker Kline
Dorianne Laux
Jeanne Leiby
Kimberly Lojewski
Gary Louris
Mary Beth Lundgren
Molly Lyons
Nick Marino
Joyce Maynard
Campbell McGrath
Ron MacLean
Tom McAllister
Jen McClung
Karen McElmurray
John McNally
Susannah Meadows
Joe Meno
Kathryn Miles
Joseph Millar
Rhett Miller
Jesse Millner
Lyn Millner
CD Mitchell
Debra Monroe
Dito Montiel
Alastair Moock
Dinty Moore
Keith Lee Morris
Leonard Nash
Sena Jeter Naslund
Jeff Newberry
Annemarie Ni. Churreain
Linda Oatman Hill
Tim O’Brien
Robert Olmstead
Jennifer Gill O'Neil
Susan Orlean
Alan Michael Parker
Jeff Parker
Tim Parrish
Benjamin Percy
Tom Piazza
David James Poissant
Neal Pollack
Mark Powell
Bobbie Pyron
Margo Rabb
Nahid Rachlin
Deborah Reed
Michelle Richmond
Ryan Rivas
Rob Roberge
Henry Rollins
Nina Romano
Kathleen Rooney
Robert Root
Jane Roper
Michael Ruhlman
Richard Russo
John K. Samson
John Sayles
Julia Scheeres
Christopher Schelling
Mark Evan Schwartz
Danielle Sellers
Jennifer Senior
Jim Shepard
Karen Shepard
Abby Sher
George Singleton
Lauren Small
Christine Sneed
Laurel Snyder
Wesley Stace
Michael Steinberg
JL Stermer
Megan Stielstra
Parker Stockman
Darin Strauss
Thomas Swick
Ann Kidd Taylor
Johnny Temple
Jeffrey Thomson
Karen Tolchin
Martin Tolchin
Susan Tolchin
Sarah Tomlinson
Nicole Tourtelot
Emma Trelles
Frank Turner
Laura Valeri
Ian Vasquez
Judith Viorst
Willy Vlautin
Sidney Wade
Dan Wakefield
Alexis Washam
Jay Wexler
Liza Wieland
Robert Wilder
Tom Williams
Tom Zoellner
And most of all, I'd like to thank anyone and everyone who's ever attended the conference.
