Over four decades of collective local writing talent will be on display Friday and Saturday as the 41st annual Steamboat Writers’ Conference kicks off at the Depot Arts Center, 1001 13th St. 

Steamboat Creates is hosting the 41st workshop where over four decades of “inspiration and encouragement” will come together to support writers from all walks of life. The evening will start at 5:30 p.m., with dinner being served at 6 p.m.

The group, which was founded by the Steamboat Springs Council of the Arts and Humanities in 1982, has come to represent a thriving writing presence in the Yampa Valley. 

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Dee and Joe McManus, who are the public relations team for the event, spoke to the power the group holds for them and other writers throughout the area. Though both had written extensively as part of their careers, their reentry into the world of authorship led to them becoming “novices” after retirement. 

“We sought out new areas of life-long learning,” said both Dee and Joe. “We read the Steamboat Pilot Community Calendar and noticed an open invitation to join the Steamboat Writers’ Group. We joined the group four years ago.” 

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The Steamboat Writers’ Group has served as a collaborative support and conduit towards innovation for many of the region’s authors.

Cesare F. Rosati, who started writing poetry in his teens and is now a retired novelist, has used the group to support his literary endeavors. 

“The Steamboat Writers Group is open and welcoming to writers of all levels,” he said. “Since I joined in 1998, it has become not only my weekly inspiration to write, but a center for my social interaction in town.” 

Polly Holyoke, who was once a schoolteacher, used her summers to write “fantastical new worlds and stories” for children. She experienced the lasting benefit of the Steamboat Writers’ Group and annual workshop.

Her publications include “The Neptune Project,” “The Neptune Challenge” and “The Sky King,” as well as “Skyrider,” which was a finalist for the Colorado Book Award. 

“We are a small, supportive community with a terrific writers’ group that meets each Thursday at 12 p.m. at the Arts Depot,” said Holyoke. “We have younger and older members who come from a variety of backgrounds…It quickly became my first family and circle of friends when I moved back to Colorado.”

Friday will feature a meet and greet reception, cash bar and buffet followed by a “five minutes of fame” reading. Registration is required for the presentation, where participants will present a five minute writing composition of their choosing. The event is limited to the first fifteen individuals who sign up. 

Rosati and other participants noted that this is a much anticipated part of the writers’ workshop, as authors get to listen to, and be inspired by, other writers across different genres. 

“The transformative value of writing, rewriting, and reading your work aloud…is a benefit of [the] seminar exercises that shift you away to new writing styles and subjects.” 

Doors open at 8:15 a.m. on Saturday with presenters including literary agent Sara Megibow and  Professor of English J. Eric Miller.  

Megibow has worked in publishing since 2006 and is presently the Senior Literary Agent for Megibow Literary Agency, which is based on Broomfield. She specializes in debuting new writers and has worked with notable authors including Rebecca Roanhorse, Margaret Rogerson and Jason Hough. 

Megibow will be discussing “Behind The Scenes Publishing.” 

Metropolitan State University of Denver Professor J. Eric Miller will host a workshop surrounding “Creative Non-Fiction” at 10:30 a.m.

Miller, who is a Professor of English, has had his fictional and personal essays published in many journals. He is also the author of several collections of short stories and the novel “Decomposition,” which was published in 2006. 

Afternoon workshops will continue with Megibow delving into literary agency at 1 p.m. and Miller discussing personal essays at 2:30 p.m. A question-and-answer session at 4 p.m. with the collective will close the event. 

Off the Beaten Path will be selling the publications of workshop authors during lunch on Saturday. 

“Interacting with participants at previous conferences, I’ve come away with the realization that there are many ways to develop the story,” said Rosati. “Anyone who wants to be a writer should take advantage of this very inexpensive conference to meet and commune with local writers…it will spur them to pursue their writing careers.”

For more information please visit SteamboatCreates.org/the-writers-group/.