In the Beginning...
In 2006, several members of the Chattahoochee Valley community - from both Georgia and Alabama, joined together to start an annual writers conference. After many meetings, much deliberation, and many long hours of planning and organizing, the first annual Chattahoochee Valley Writers Conference was held, September 27-29, 2007. The conference was dedicated to the memory of Nunnally Johnson, an American filmmaker who wrote, produced, and directed motion pictures, and Carson McCullers, an American author, playwright, poet and essayist.
The first conference was held Saturday, 29 September 2007. F. Clason Kyle, journalist, author and historian was our Honorary Chairman. Shay Youngblood, novelist, playwrite, and author of short stories, and a Columbus native, was our Keynote Speaker. Fourteen authors, poets, and journalists were invited to serve as faculty members. Approximately 110 participants attended from Georgia, Alabama and Florida, and their feedback indicated they were delighted with the conference.
As a result, we continue to hold an annual conference, hiring a variety of faculty members from across the country, presenting workshops in all aspects of writing - novels, short stories, children's literature, editing evaluations, poetry, play and screen writing.
It's been quite a journey over the years, and we have loved every minute of it. Despite occasional "bumps in the road", we look forward to each new conference, basing the next one on suggestions and recommendations from our participants. We thank each and every one of you for your input.
We are also very grateful for the wonderfully educated, talented, knowledgeable and entertaining faculty who have provided their expertise. Without them, these conferences would not have been possible.