WRITERS' CONTEST WINNERS ANNOUNCED:

Thank you to everyone who entered the USC Writers' Conference contest! It was a tough decision to choose just five winners. Here they are:

• Author and publicist Paula Margulies wrote about "The Joy of Artist Residencies." This was a really standout post that shows how a residency can beef up their resumes, get a tremendous amount of work done, and see some of this great country of ours."

• Author Albert Flynn DeSilver remembers "The Greatest Retreat."

• Member Beth Browne's life was changed by "The South Carolina Writers Workshop 2011."

• For member Mary Wagner, the first one where she spoke was "The Most Memorable Conference."

• Author Lynn Henricksen didn’t blog, but we hope she won't mind that we're sharing the contents of her emailed entry that reflects the conference's "Trojan flavor":

          "I would love to attend this conference at USC! I paid the “big” price for my daughter to get her undergraduate degree at USC (Thankfully she got a merit, presidential scholarship that paid half tuition.) Then she put herself through a master’s program at USC and received a Masters in Public Administration last May. To visit the USC campus again for something so dear to my heart as a writing conference would amazing. FIGHT ON!"

These five lucky winners won free admission to the USC Writers Conference, held April 20th, 2012, in conjunction with the 17th annual Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. Airfare and lodging are not included.

We also asked Red Roomers to blog about their most interesting experience at a writer's retreat or conference, or what makes one worthwhile. We chose Paula Margulies for her post "The Joy of Residencies" to receive a copy of A Bitter Veil, Libby Fischer Hellman's new literary thriller set against the Iranian Revolution.

All of the other posts about writers' residencies, conferences, and retreats are here. I hope you'll find your favorites, let the authors know what you like about their posts, and feel inspired to plan your next getaway as a writer.

Thanks as always for blogging!

–Huntington W. Sharp, Senior Editor, Red Room

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More about the conference...don't miss next year's!

Red Room member Eileen Kohan, an Associate Provost and lecturer in the Dornsife College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences at the University of Southern California, invites you to the first annual USC Writers’ Conference:

“Join us for a day in Los Angeles on the University of Southern California campus as we explore the business and craft of storytelling. Our conference will have a USC flavor with an emphasis on the business of writing, social media strategies, finding a community of writers and, of course, bringing a story from page to screen.” 

Session leaders will include best-selling author Deborah Harkness (A Discovery of Witches) and Dana Gioia, winner of an American Book Award for his poetry and former chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts. Red Room CEO and Editor in Chief Ivory Madison will be the Keynote Speaker at the Conference.