THE MARYMOUNT
MANHATTAN COLLEGE
WRITERS'
CONFERENCE
and
WRITERS' INTENSIVE

By Heather Harreld
Word Smitten Correspondent

Last year's keynote speaker author Russell Banks brought participants at The Marymount Manhattan College Writer's Conference to a fork-stopping hush during lunch. This year's featured luncheon speaker is columnist Jimmy Breslin. Known for his brash, straight-shooting style, Breslin is not likely to leave participants glancing about for the distraction of dessert.

Breslin, the current Newsday columnist and the author of the recently published The Short Sweet Dream of Eduardo Gutierrez once characterized boredom as a felony.

The conference, which launches June 10 in Manhattan with evening workshops featuring the likes of Ben Cheever and Grace Mirabella, will culminate on June 13 with a full-day conference packed with more than 60 authors, editors and publishers who will populate a wide variety of panels.

Panel topics include categories of fiction, memoir, mystery, publicity, editors, literary agents, children's books, magazine writing, and screenwriting. With literary luminaries such as Roy Blount Jr., Stuart Woods, Gay Talese, Alan Furst, Sue Miller, Meg Wolitzer, Susan Orlean and editors from the New Yorker and the New York Times, these sessions - and the crucial networking between them - are bound to be informative and valuable.

The conference is designed for both experienced and novice writers and has introduced several writers to their future publishers and vice versa, according to Lewis Frumkes, conference organizer and director of Marymount's Writing Center.

Jane Islay, editor-in-chief at Harcourt, will join Breslin on the roster as a keynote speaker. Islay has discovered writers such as Alice Miller, Mary Pipher, Melissa Fay Greene, and Antonio Damasio.

Elfrieda Abbe, editor-in-chief of The Writer magazine and a past conference attendee says the conference is ensconced in an informal, comfortable setting that puts even novices at ease.

"For writers it's an opportunity to learn more about the writing business and get tips from all genres," according to Abbe.

"You rarely get such a collection of editors, writers and agents in one place.

It's an opportunity for me to talk with editors and agents about publishing trends. You certainly get a lot of different points of view about writing and breaking into the publishing business. When you have a panel of agents who are sharing with you ways to get your manuscript to them - that is invaluable information."

For our lodging recommendations:
Postcards - where you want to stay in NYC

Algonquin Hotel
or the
Surrey Suite Hotel.

Both are moderate to expensive but if this is your one trip to New York this year (or this decade) then stay where you'll find great amenities and where the Writers' Conference is close enough for a cab ride or a quick walk.

The Algonquin Hotel
Located in Midtown. Take a cab to the Writers Conference
59 West 44th St.
New York, New York
Phone: 212 840 6800
Fax: 212 944 1419
www.camberleyhotels.com

Rates range $190 to $260 and may vary. But, for writers who know of the legendary round table, where Dorothy Parker and the best of Manhattan's high-wit circle often met to drink martinis, this hotel is a must. Renovated with plush and elegant furnishings, the only item missing is Hamlet the Cat, a feline fixture during the hotel's heyday. Hamlet, the legends tell us, greeted hotel guests and slept on the registration book at the Algonquin's front desk.

Lift your elbow in toast to the Algonquin Round Table Writers in the Oak Room. Tiny rooms, robes that you'll want to steal (we don't recommend that), and good service. When you call for reservations, ask about the literary suites-you get a kick out of the names.

Surrey Suite Hotel
The Surrey Hotel features luxurious studios, one- and two-bedroom apartments. Easy to find on a pleasant tree-lined street in the Yorkville area of Manhattan's Upper East Side where the streets are dotted with cozy restaurants. Central Park, Hunter College, Museum Mile are walking distance. With European-style architecture, 18th century English décor, and the French restaurant Cafe Boulud, this is a comfortable spot to rest after the Writer's Conference and before you take in Broadway.

Surrey Suite Hotel
Upper East Side
Address: 20 East 76th St
(between Fifth and Madison)
New York NY

Phone: 212 288 3700;
1 800 ME SUITE (637 8483)
Fax: 212 628 1549
www.mesuite.com

City Tip:
If you go, and if you have time for sightseeing, call ahead to the Big Apple Greeters and get a customized tour of the city (one-to-one, or one-to how many friends you bring) with a native. With a non-tourist who knows the city like a newly printed map.

Enjoy and send us a Postcard! The editors and staff at Word Smitten