AWC + SJW present 

Your Writing Conference Game Plan: How to Prepare, Connect & Get Results

August 20 at 6:30 p.m. CT

Learn how to make the most of the Alabama Writers Cooperative Annual Conference -- or any writing conference -- at this free workshop. We'll cover how to prepare for the conference, tips for connecting with other attendees and for pitching your book idea, and how to leave the event with what you need to move your writing career forward. 

Register at: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/cCHGwF7sRbus9WWSR5eO2w

Catherine Hamrick started her career in print, working at Southern Living, Cooking Light, Southern Accents, Better Homes and Gardens, and Meredith Books. She taught writing and communication arts before jumping into digital marketing as the copywriter/content strategist at Berry College in Rome, Georgia. Hamrick's poetry and prose have appeared in The Blue Mountain Review, Appalachian Review, Appalachian Places, Pine Mountain Sand & Gravel, storySouth, The Citron Review, and elsewhere. Madville Publishing released her collection, The Tears of Things: Poems, in 2025. Find her online at catherinehamrick.com.

Javacia Harris Bowser is the executive editor of the Birmingham Times and the founder of See Jane Write, a website and community for women who write. She’s the author of the award-winning essay collection Find Your Way Back: How to Write Your Way Through Anything and is a recipient of the 2022 Alabama State Council on the Arts Fellowship. She has written for several media outlets including ELLE magazine, Good Housekeeping, Good Grit, and Shondaland.com. 

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/

Tuesday, January 27, 2026 at 6:00 PM

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.

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Prospective attendees should register at the link below in order to receive a link prior to the Zoom session.

REGISTRATION FOR THE ZOOM SESSION

Image courtesy of the office of Governor Kay Ivey

Jacqueline Trimble

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)