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Hello. We hope you’re enjoying the
Golden Week holidays.
This is to remind those of you who
are thinking about presenting at the Sixth Annual Japan Writers Conference that
we need to see your proposals soon. The deadline is June 1, 2012, less than a
month away.
The Conference will return to Kyoto this year,
to the Imadegawa campus of Doshisha Women’s College on November 10th and 11th,
2012. As always, it will be free and open to all
who wish to attend.
All published writers, translators,
editors, agents and publishers who would like to lead a session are invited to
submit proposals. Those who have presented at past conferences are welcome to
submit new proposals and we welcome proposals from new submitters.
Please forward this to any friend or
colleague who might be interested. If you know someone the conference organizers
might approach—either living in Japan or planning to visit Japan next
autumn—please send us your suggestion. If you have contact information, that
would be a great help.
Briefly, a proposal needs to include
a brief bio, including some publication credits, the type of presentation you
wish to make, a title, a summery of 50 words, a longer abstract (150 words) and
any special requests you might have. Standard sessions are fifty minutes long,
but if you have something special in mind, please let us know and we will
accommodate if possible.
Presentations on all genres and all
aspects of writing and publishing are welcome.
Proposal Guidelines
When planning your proposal, keep
your audience in mind. Your listeners will be writers and others (translators,
editors, publishers, and agents) concerned with creating the published written
word. While teaching, literary studies and private self-expression are certainly
worthy activities, they are not the focus of this Conference. Ask yourself as a
writer or other word professional these questions:
What information do you have which
could be useful to others?
What writing, rewriting, editing, or
marketing techniques have worked for you?
What topic would make for a lively
and enlightening discussion?
What publishing or other professional
opportunities do you know about?
What will an attendee take away from
your fifty-minute session that he or she will find worthwhile?
You may submit more than one
proposal.
The only qualification one needs to
be a presenter is to have published. You need to have written, edited,
translated, or otherwise worked on writing which has made it to the public eye.
That is, published.
Proposal Deadline and Format
Using the following format, please
send your ideas for a presentation by June 1, 2012. Send your proposal in the
body of an email (no attachments) to both these addresses:
*****Deleted by me (Jessica); email me if you need this info*****
In your subject line give your name,
“JWC,” and the date.
In the body of the email, give:
1. Your name (or names)
2. Contact information (email,
telephone. These remain confidential.)
3. Your publications (Need not be
complete, but give names of journals and genre for short pieces; title,
publisher and date for books; venues and dates for plays, and so on)
4. Title of presentation. (20 words
or less)
5. Type of presentation (short
lecture with Q&A, craft workshop, panel discussion, reading with Q&A,
etc.)
6. Short summary of the presentation
(50 words or less)
7. Abstract of the presentation (150
words or less)
8. Personal and professional
biography (50 words or less. Make mention of your publications, as this will be
part of the Conference program)
9. Anything else, such as special
equipment needs or questions.
Your proposal doesn’t have to be a
“finished” document to submit. There will be time to shape and polish your ideas
for a presentation. But there are a limited number of session slots available
and if you are want one, please let us know soon. Several people have already
submitted. One more time, the deadline is June 1, 2012.
John Gribble
Bern Mulvey
Co Co-ordinators,
2012 Japan Writers Conference
