Literary Cleveland will host its 11th annual free Inkubator writers’ conference Sept. 5-14. 

The conference kicks off with three days of virtual programming followed by two days of in-person events at the Cleveland Public Library’s main branch at 525 Superior Ave. 

The festival will also feature community-based events, including an open mic poetry night at Karamu House and a book giveaway at the West Side Market.   

In-person workshops begin Friday, Sept. 12. Each session is hosted by one or more presenters from the fields of literary writing — fiction, non-fiction, poetry, publishing and more. Attendees may write a piece of flash fiction, get tips on novel writing, or piece together their first poetry collection.     

Literary Cleveland Executive Director Matt Weinkam said presenters for the Inkubator come from the academic world and the community and have both writing and teaching experience. “We’re bridging the academic world of writing, people who are teaching at universities, maybe have graduate degrees and gone that route, with people who have spent their career writing in the community in different ways. They might be part of organizations, they might also just be individuals who have a ton of writing or teaching experience otherwise.”

Weinkam said the conference is now trying to expand its reach beyond Northeast Ohio. “When I solicit our featured presenters, I’m trying to find really excellent people from [other regional] cities so that, A, we’re expanding our pool of great writers and instructors, then B, we can also use them as a way to attract participants from those cities.”

Lara Lillibridge: ‘Writing While The World Burns’ 

Lara Lillibridge, a faculty member at Literary Cleveland, has published several books examining gender issues and parenting. 

Lillibridge’s session will examine the work of several different poets in an effort to help writers who may be struggling to find meaning and purpose in their writing during tumultuous times. 

Lillibridge explained, “I had the privilege of hearing the poet Patricia Smith speak a few years ago, and she said that she always looks for the voice in the room that is not being heard and tries to amplify it. That really stuck with me. We cannot fight all the evil or hate in the world, but perhaps, if we are lucky, we can help one person feel seen.”

“Even as the world burns,” she added, “people still get divorced, or lose loved ones, or drown in a myriad of personal sorrows. Our words can help them feel seen, or create empathy, or offer a desperately needed escape. It may not be global change, but if we help one other person, collectively we will be strong enough to fight the larger battles.”

Annmarie Kelly: ‘Write Right Now: Energize Your Practice with Micro Memoir’

Annmarie Kelly is a published author and podcaster who also works with incarcerated students trying to obtain degrees. 

Kelly’s course is on “micro memoirs” and using them to spur your creative energy. She said books and other long-story formats can take years to write, while micro memoirs can be a burst of creative energy for writers who feel stuck in a long project or a novice writer just looking for somewhere to start. 

“To begin a micro memoir,” Kelly said, “I often invite students to picture their life in ‘sensory snapshots.’ Flip back through the years and jot down a few memories that jump out: the time I fell off my bike and got 28 stitches in my leg, a soft-serve twist ice cream cone from the shop on the corner, the smell of my grandmother’s kitchen. Then, we’ll pick one to write about and try to better understand ourselves and the world.”

Melissa Barrett: ‘Work & Poetry: Making Time for Writing in the 40+ Hour Work Week’

Inkubator presenter Melissa Barrett, a published poet and public school teacher, will focus on finding a balance between working and writing.

“The workshop aims to be generative with some embedded prompts and writing time while also sharing vignettes and stories from writers who have occupied two disparate selves, the writer and the worker,” said Barrett.  

A point Barrett said she hopes to make in the class comes from Pulitzer prize-winning poet Jericho Brown, who in an interview once suggested starting writing just five minutes a day and gradually increasing your writing time. 

“[Brown’s] interview is both inspiring and grounding,” said Barrett. “We don’t need to wait till we retire, till the weekend, till we hit the lottery. We can get to work now, in whatever slice of time is available to us.” 

Allegra Solomon: ‘Power of the Page: How Form Influences the Reader’s Experience’

Allegra Solomon is a fiction writer from Columbus. Her debut short story collection has won several literature prizes. She said she plans to highlight the way the presentation of our writing can change the level of engagement and interest of the reader in her course. 

“I think often times we believe we enjoy stories because of the literal plot points that happen within them,” she said. “More often than not, I think the thing that moves us most is the way those plot points are presented to us by the author.”

Solomon said she plans to touch on the Robert Coover short story “Going for a Beer” in her presentation, a short story that spans one man’s entire life in about one thousand words presented in one large block of text on the page. “The story is effective and unique precisely because of [its] distinct craft elements. I want us to consider: How would this story be received if it were broken up into paragraphs or if  it were two thousand words longer?” 

“I’m excited to dive into these concepts further at the conference.”

Alison Stine: ‘As the World Burns: Writing Climate Fiction’

Alison Stine has published three climate fiction novels, three books of poetry and a novella. Stine said climate fiction, or “cli-fi,” was the only label that fit her work. “Cli-fi has the power to not only provide captivating stories for readers,” said Stine, “but to also educate and change minds about the very real climate crisis. How can we know how to move forward unless we read it and dream it?” 

“Being an artist of any kind is paying attention,” she adds. “When it comes to writing climate fiction, I hope to direct students in paying attention not only to the larger world but to the smaller, individual world of the spaces they inhabit every day.”

Registration is required to attend Literary Cleveland’s free Inkubator writing conference. Learn more at Inkubator’s website.