Writer's Con One Short This Year

The Roanoke Regional Writers Conference last year wasn't a bad scene. For starters, Sharyn McCrumb was there along with some excellent writers around Virginia whose work appears in notable mags nationwide.

There was even a full-time blogger there sharing tips on the blogosphere.

I had been hoping for an encore this year, but received no emails regarding the 2009 conference.
While Roanoke is very cosmopolitan for its size - an assertion I've long stood by - writer's conferences are pretty rare, so I knew that I wanted to attend.

I called the place that housed it last year: The Jefferson Center. They said they have no idea if it's going on in '09, but they aren't hosting it.

I wrote the webmaster of the Literary Ladies' Luncheon - who made reference to the 2008 conference on their site, but still no dice on tracking down the event for '09. All of this after Googling the hell out of anything that sounded remotely close to Roanoke Regional Writers Conference.

So how do I finally here about it: via a thank you for attending email from the Arts Council of the Blue Ridge, saying how last weekend's conference was a fine affair. My email address must not have been on the head's up mailing list.

Being angry is completely futile, but feeling utterly disappointed is pretty called for. I mean, how can Roanokers have any claim to how little buy-in the arts have in our city when someone like me - seeking an opportunity to pay good money toward this conference and its speakers - can't even track down the date or place or host of an event?

I'll not claim that I am so fine a writer that the conference was in any way cheapened by my absence, but I'll tell you what was: the conference's and host's coffers. Not to mention the score of small-press books I always buy from the speakers.

Maybe next year I won't have to beat down someone's door just to patronize the arts.