Register now for the 2021 Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference, to be held October 15-16. Our Friday evening event will be held live, in-person, at Interabang Books in Dallas, Texas. Our all-day Saturday programming will be conducted virtually, via Zoom Webinar.
This year’s theme?
To Your Health: Healing the Nation, Healing the News, Healing Yourself.
We’ll explore how journalism and storytelling have impacted (and been impacted by) the many events unfolding over the past year – healthcare, trust in news, mental health, social justice, and how the times have affected us all.
As always, we’ll have the nation’s leading journalists, writers and authors to give the inside stories. We plan to go beyond the headlines, allowing some of the nation’s best journalists and authors to share the story behind the stories.
We know it’s been a year of outstanding investigative journalism, powerful breaking news narratives and heart wrenching personal narratives that capture a world under siege by the COVID-19 pandemic that has taken its toll on so many aspects of life.
The Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference is where aspiring and established storytellers, reporters, photographers, and narrative non-fiction writers from all walks of life learn, engage and network with the nation's best authors journalists, editors, educators and agents through workshops, seminars and keynotes.
Our 2021 Writing Contests are also open!
Enter your best work to win in our 2021 Mayborn Conference Writing Contests. Submit your entries for Reported Narrative, Personal Essay or Book Manuscript and have your chance at professional workshops plus $1,500 first prize award in each category.
Top entries in our Reported Narrative and Personal Essay contests are published annually in our Ten Spurs Literary Journal. And the winner of our manuscript competition earns a provisional publishing contract with UNT Press. Check out our Writing Contests page for more information and application materials.
Deadline for writing contest entries is September 15 at 11:59 p.m.
A remarkable lineup of keynotes and panelists who can share inside views on a tumultuous year.
We’ll be announcing our final lineup for 2021 soon, but featured speakers, so far, include former Washington Post Executive Editor Marty Baron and CBS News Chief Washington Correspondent Major Garrett. Continue to check our Speakers page for updates.
Reserve your space at Interabang Books and for our online Zoom Webinar now.
About the Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference.
The annual Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference is a forum for journalists, writers, readers, students, educators and the general public to listen to, be inspired by and practice the craft at the highest possible level. Now in its 17th year, the Mayborn Conference gathers some of the most talented storytellers in the country to share their stories, life-changing experiences and expertise with aspiring writers through lectures, panels, one-on-one sessions and keynotes.