What’s happening in the Alabama writing world…
The AWC’s 2026 Writing Contest is open!
Deadline for entries is 11:59 PM CST on August 31, 2026.
Winners will be announced at the 2026 AWC Conference.
Categories, submission guidelines, and submission payments can be found on: https://alabamawriterscooperative.org/2026-contests
The Writing Contest is open to AWC members and non-members alike!
Contact the AWC Contest Chair at AWCcontests@gmail.com for details on sponsorship! If you want a category to be offered and want to be the judge of that category, consider this the perfect opportunity!
Register today! https://alabamawriterscooperative.org/2026-conferenceinformation
View the Schedule: https://alabamawriterscooperative.org/2026-conference-schedule
Grab your discounted conference lodging: https://alabamawriterscooperative.org/2026-conference-lodging
Interested in pre-registering for AWC’s Annual Conference? Fill out the form below to receive further communications about the conference.
The Alabama Writing Workshop is a one-day writers conference in Birmingham, AL (March 27, 2026) with classes, literary agent pitching, critiques, and more. Info: https://alabamawritingworkshop.com/ Take steps to get your writing published.
Don't miss the Rocky Heights Book Fair & Young Author Press Awards Launch in Homewood, Alabama on Saturday, May 2, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. This free community event will highlight authors of all ages. Vendor spaces are available and affordable -- a great opportunity to sell your books.
Learn more at https://www.rockyheightsbinding.com/book-fair-event/
Join the Alabama Writers' Cooperative and See Jane Write for a live Q&A with Lizz Schumer -- the senior books editor at People Magazine. Lizz oversees all things books on all platforms at People and previously led books coverage at Good Housekeeping Magazine, where she founded the Good Housekeeping Book Club. She has also written for Woman's Day, Prevention, the New York Times, and many other publications. She's also a writing coach at the New York Writing Room, teaches journalism courses at New York University and is the author of Biography of a Body and Buffalo Steel.
Prospective attendees should register at the link below in order to receive a link prior to the Zoom session.
Image courtesy of the office of Governor Kay Ivey
Dr. Jacqueline Trimble will serve from January 2026 to December 2029 as Alabama’s 14th Poet Laureate.
After the election at the 2025 AWC Annual Conference, Dr. Trimble had this to share with AWC’s voting body:
“Alabama has been blessed with a rich literary tradition. The talent that exists and has always existed here is second to none. I am honored, humbled, and deeply moved by the faith the Alabama Writers Cooperative and the writers of Alabama have placed in me to be the chief champion of poetry in this state. I walk in the footsteps of wonderful poet laureates, and I hope to continue their work of bringing well-deserved attention to this state’s literary abundance. The world needs to know our Alabama poets, and I look forward to working with organizations and individual artists to encourage emerging and established writers, create new ways of engaging readers, and support the beautiful and important work of poetry in this state.”
“Jacqueline Trimble elected Alabama’s next poet laureate” (GulfCoastMedia.com)
“Meet the new Alabama Poet Laureate, Jacqueline Allen Trimble” (AlabamaNewsCenter.com)
“Jacqueline Allen Trimble, English Professor at HBCU, to Serve as New Poet Laureate for State of Alabama” (Birmingham Times)
“Alabama Poet Laureate Commission Dr. Jacqueline Trimble” (from the office of Governor Kay Ivey)
Tuesday, October 14, 2025 at 6 PM
See Jane Write and Alabama Writers’ Cooperative present a free personal branding workshop via Zoom featuring See Jane Write founder Javacia Harris Bowser.
Register Here: https://forms.gle/rvVvC98KRBktrsGB7
You will receive an email with the Zoom link on Tuesday morning, October 14.
SJW + AWC Workshop
Brand You: Building Your Author Platform
featuring Javacia Harris Bowser of See Jane Write
In this workshop, Javacia will cover practical ways writers can build their personal brands and find community and how both can boost their writing careers.
ABOUT JAVACIA
Javacia Harris Bowser is an award-winning freelance journalist and the author of the essay collection Find Your Way Back: How to Write Your Way Through Anything. In Birmingham, she’s best known as the founder of See Jane Write, website and community for women who write that Javacia founded in 2011. Today, See Jane Write serves and brings together women from across the country and around the world.
Because of See Jane Write, Javacia was included in Southern Living magazine’s list of Innovators Changing the South, alongside household names like Dolly Parton and Reese Witherspoon. Her personal brand has also landed her opportunities to write for major publications such as ELLE magazine, Good Housekeeping magazine, and BET.com.
A recipient of the 2022 Alabama State Council on the Arts Fellowship, Javacia has also received multiple awards from the National Federation of Press Women, Alabama Media Association and the Alabama Press Association.
Emerald Coast Writers would like to announce the upcoming Volume XXIII of the Emerald Coast Review to be launched on October 25th!
Seventy-eight writers, artists, and photographers will be featured in the upcoming issue of Emerald Coast Review, Vol. XXIII. Since 1989, the ECR has been published every two years, emphasizing its mission to showcase high-quality fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and contemporary, emerging, and experimental works alongside outstanding art, graphic design, and photography from creators across coastal Florida and Alabama.
This year’s volume will also include scripts from the winners of the Books By the Bay 2024 Short-Film Screenwriting Contest, along with companion works from Picture Me A Story, a collaboration between Wide Angle Photo Club and Emerald Coast Writers.
The book, scheduled to launch on October 25th, features a vibrant mix of Gulf Coast creativity along with contributions from beyond the region, chosen from hundreds of submissions.
Contributors include (from Alabama) Jessica Jones, Baldwin County, AL; Amy Hadley, Bay Minette, AL; Joe Cuhaj, Fairhope, AL; Mike Turner, Fairhope, AL; Randolph Crew, Foley, AL; Justin Philips, Gulf Shores, AL; Kathleen Duthu, Mobile, AL; Janet Nodar, Mobile, AL; Karen Hydock, Mobile County, AL; (from Florida) Tonya Dalhaus, Beulah; Autry Clifton Dye, Cantonment; Leigh Anne Mabry, Cantonment; Tom Brinton, Crestview; Lauren Whitley, Emerald Coast; David Schjott, Freeport; Terri Barlotta, Fort Walton Beach; Gail Barsh, Fort Walton Beach; Jessica Temple, Fort Walton Beach; Steve Biersdorf, Gulf Breeze; Scott Finelli, Gulf Breeze; Evelyn Fredman, Gulf Breeze; Jacquelyn Roos, Gulf Breeze; Diane Skelton, Gulf Breeze; Bobby J. Touchton, Milton; Bart Daughety, Navarre; Kimberly Hutchinson, Navarre; Claire Massey, Navarre; Mikayla Satterlee, Navarre; Lee Underwood Arndt, Niceville; Benjamin Larrison, Niceville; Alice H. Murray, Niceville; Deborah R. Majors, Niceville; J. Wren Supak, Niceville; Robert Larson, Northwest FL; Stephen Wise, Northwest FL; Betty Hassler, Pace; R.A. Krueger, Pace; Pamela G. Holmes, Panama City; Vanessa Bragg, Pensacola; Lisa Mella Burridge, Pensacola; Todd Chandler Clark, JR., Pensacola; Gina Cooke, Pensacola; Patti Damm, Pensacola; Ron Dowdy, Pensacola; Vee Dowdy, Pensacola; Christy J. Draper, Pensacola; Peter Dye, Pensacola; Stephanie Whibbs Gonzalez, Pensacola; Mary Gutierrez, Pensacola; Laurie Hansen, Pensacola; Terry Henry, Pensacola; Margaret Hildreth, Pensacola; Ron Hixson, Pensacola; Toni Hixson, Pensacola; Yvonne Lashmett, Pensacola; Vera Leon, Pensacola; Jane Gate Lies, Pensacola; Cori Lojo, Pensacola; Heather Mitchell, Pensacola; Karen McAferty Morris, Pensacola; Lisa Joy Newcomb, Pensacola; Leslie E. Owen, Pensacola; Janet Reeves, Pensacola; Renate Reiner, Pensacola; Eric St. Pierre, Pensacola; Richard Smith, Pensacola; Sara Jeanine Smith, Pensacola; Debra Stogner, Pensacola; Carolyn Joyce Tokson, Pensacola; Mara Viksnins, Pensacola; Andrea Jones Walker, Pensacola; Lori Zavada, Pensacola; Emily Rose Proctor, Santa Rosa Beach; Ann Lewis, Seagrove Beach; Christina Larson, Shalimar; M.R. Street, Tallahassee; John Gibson, Vernon; Joanne Blakely, Anna, IL; Lisa Kamolnick, Blountville, TN.
For more information, please contact: Diane Skelton, emeraldcoastreview@gmail.com
Emerald Coast Writers, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, all-volunteer organization based in downtown Pensacola, Florida. Initially founded in 1986 as the West Florida Literary Federation, it now has over 100 members. ECW works to preserve the area's literary heritage and cultural scene by hosting contests and workshops, sponsoring various community happenings, youth programs, and the Books by the Bay Festival.
