with Atlanta Writers Club, Georgia Writers Museum, and St. Simons Island Writers
Across the street from AW Jones Heritage Center – an easy stroll! Limited room block available. To claim a room, call (912) 634-2122and provide group code “SSI Literary Guild” to receive a rate of $145/night (does not include taxes and fees)
The Atlanta Writers Club, Georgia Writers Museum, and St. Simons Island Writers present a writing retreat designed to help you relax, recharge, and write!
Unlike many such events that are so intent on offering value thatthey overwhelm participants with activities, leaving no time forcreative output, the AWC-GWM-SSIW retreat is designed to give youample networking and learning opportunities while also providinglong stretches where you can further develop your work-in-process,get inspired to start something new, or just rest and rediscover yourmuse.
St. Simons Island, Georgia, is the perfect place to do this. Write with innumerable island views to delight you or explore its iconic lighthouse and pier, long shorelines, plentiful dining and shopping, miles of bike paths, and nature trails galore while you contemplate your next chapter.
Schedule
@ Coastal Georgia Historical Society AW Jones Heritage Center (610 Beachview Dr., St. Simons Island, GA)
4:00 pm -6:00 pm
Welcome reception featuring networking activities and hors d’oeuvres
Optional activities include a silent write-in on Friday and on Saturday at the St. Simons Island Public Library to encourage writing productivity and group lunches and dinners.
Speakers
Kaia Alderson
Walking the Roads My Forefathers (and Foremothers!) Walked (Or How I Play in the Archives for Literary Inspiration)
Photo Credit: Jilisa Hope Millner
PRESENTING: “Walking the Roads My Forefathers (and Foremothers!) Walked (Or How I Play in the Archives for Literary Inspiration).” In this presentation, historical fiction author Kaia Alderson will discuss her methods for discovering, researching, and “getting in the heads” of the hidden historical figures who inspire her novels..
Kaia Alderson is a historical women’s fiction author with a passion for discovering “hidden figures” in African-American women’s history. She gravitates toward the stories of women who defied social, racial, and gender norms by refusing to stay in their “place” during a time when doing so could get them socially ostracized and/or killed. Kaia feels these women’s stories mirror the experiences of present-day Black women and demonstrate successful strategies for combatting the roadblocks that still persist in women’s social lives and in the workplace.
Her two published novels are Sisters in Arms (2021) and In a League of Her Own (2024).
Harrison Scott Key
This Really Happened: On Writing True Stories
PRESENTING: “This Really Happened: On Writing True Stories.” In this presentation, memoirist Harrison Scott Key shares his most useful lessons for writing memoir and fiction. How do you write a true story without alienating friends and family? Are memoirs just novels about true events? How much can you makeup before the nonfiction becomes fiction? How do you recreate dialogue from events that happened years ago? Does a memoir need a villain? What if the villainis someone you love? What if the villain is you?
Dr. Harrison Scott Key is the author of How to Stay Married (2023), Congratulations Who Are You Again (2018), and The World’s Largest Man (2015), winner of the Thurber Prize for American Humor. His books have been reviewed in the Washington Post, New York Times, The Atlantic, Wall Street Journal, and others. Harrison’s humor and nonfiction have appeared in The Best American Travel Writing, The Best American Essays, New York Times, Garden & Gun, Oxford American, Outside, The Bitter Southerner, and elsewhere, and he has spoken and performed at more than 200 festivals, conferences, universities, and bookstores, as well as on the TEDx stage. He holds degrees in playwriting, creative writing, theater, and psychology and since 2007 has taught and worked at SCAD in Savannah, Georgia, where he lives with his family.
Denny Bryce
Creating Impactful Scenes Using Short Story Techniques
PRESENTING: “Creating Impactful Scenes Using Short Story Techniques.” Join this interactive session where we’ll discuss key short story techniques to build dynamic, self-contained scenes that drive your story forward. This presentation will explore how the craft of short story writing can enhance scene-building in any form of storytelling. Short stories demand efficiency, depth, and emotional resonance—skills that can make individual scenes more powerful. We’ll review the key elements of short story writing, discuss sharp openings, precise character actions, and well-placed dialogue to create tension and meaning. Come ready to refine your work in a collaborative setting.
Denny S. Bryce is the bestselling, award-winning author of five novels, including The Trial of Mrs. Rhinelander, The Other Princess, A Face in the Sun, Can’t We Be Friends, and Wild Women and the Blues. She is also an NPR book critic, an adjunct professor at Drexel University, and a freelance writer who has written for Harper’s Bazaar and USA Today. A member of the Historical Novel Society, Women’s Fiction Writers Association, and Tall Poppy Writers, she is represented by Wendy Sherman at Wendy Sherman Associates Literary Management.
