WRITING CONFERENCE FOR NOVELS AND CREATIVE NON-FICTION
SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES
KAREN KARBO is the author of fourteen award-winning novels, memoirs and works of non-fiction including the best-selling “Kick Ass Women” series. Her 2004 memoir, The Stuff of Life, was a New York Times Notable Book, a Books for a Better Life Award finalist, and winner of the Oregon Book Award for Creative Non-fiction. A recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in Fiction, Karen’s three adult novels have also been named New York Times Notable Books. Her short stories, essays, articles and reviews have appeared in Elle, Vogue, O, Esquire, Outside, The New York Times, Tin House, Salon, Slate and other magazines. Most recently, she is the author of In Praise of Difficult Women: Life Lessons from 29 Heroines Who Dared to Break the Rules.
DEBORAH REED is the author of four novels: The Days When Birds Come Back ( “A blindingly beautiful book.”—Caroline Leavitt), Olivay, Things We Set on Fire (which sold over 100,000 books in six months), and Carry Yourself Back to Me. She has also written two popular thrillers under the pen name Audrey Braun.
“Reed shines with a light hand and direct storytelling, but her characters are what make this novel move—their vulnerability, imperfect recovery, and endearing loss for words.” —Courtney Eathorne, BOOKLIST
“Reed is skilled at unraveling their stories gradually, and is particularly adept at both drawing parallels between June and Jameson and depicting how the two help each other through their pain….An emotionally satisfying novel about the lingering effects of trauma and how people deal with guilt.” —Publishers Weekly
Reed holds a Masters in Fine Arts in Creative Writing and is co-director of the Black Forest Writing Seminars at the University of Freiburg in Germany. She teaches creative writing at workshops around the U.S. and in Europe.
She lives on the coast of Oregon.
RENE DENFELD is the author of acclaimed, award-winning novels THE CHILD FINDER and THE ENCHANTED, as well as essays in publications such as the New York Times. She has a long list of awards and accomplishments, including winner of the prestigious French Prix award, ALA Excellence in Fiction Award, and earning #1 Book of the Year status with the Oregonian.
Rene’s lyrical, beautiful writing, which has made her an international bestseller, is inspired by her work with sex trafficking victims and innocents in prison. She was the Chief Investigator at a public defender’s office and has worked hundreds of cases. In addition to her advocacy work, Rene has been a foster adoptive parent for twenty years. She was awarded the Break The Silence Award in Washington, DC in 2017 for her social justice work, and was named one of the heroic stories of the year by the New York Times.
The child of a difficult history herself, Rene is an accomplished speaker who loves connecting with others. Rene lives in Portland, Oregon, where she is the happy mom of three kids adopted from foster care as well as other foster kids. .
http://renedenfeld.com/author/
HAWTHORNE BOOKS Hawthorne Books is an independent literary press based in Portland, Oregon, with a national scope and deep regional roots. For more than a decade, our focus has been on literary fiction and nonfiction with innovative and varied approaches to the relationships between essay, memoir, and narrative. If we specialize in anything, it’s in finding superb writing and giving it the attention it deserves.
That attention manifests itself in careful, collaborative editing and a fierce commitment to the dignity of the book and its reader. Hawthorne titles are original paperbacks. Our books offer qualities such as meticulous design and typography, acid-free papers, sewn bindings, nonscuff matte lamination, and double-scored cover flaps that are engineered to function as bookmarks. The writing is meant to last; so is the book.
Since 2001, Hawthorne titles have been consistently shortlisted for respected literary awards. And we’ve won more than a few of them. Hawthorne is a go-to independent small press for the playful and deeply literary. More importantly, we have developed a loyal community of readers and writers.
FOREST AVENUE PRESS, founded in 2012 in Portland, Oregon, publishes page-turning literary fiction. Our titles are infused with a fresh, complex, sometimes nutty, and often-wondrous approach to storytelling.
Forest Avenue is the home of the Main Street Writers Movement. (Parades welcome.) As a publishing house, we empower authors with transparency, organize an intense number of book-related events, encourage our readers to shop at indie bookstores, and applaud the successes of other authors and independent presses.
http://www.forestavenuepress.com
OVERCUP PRESS is an independent book publishing company based in Portland, Oregon. Our focus is on contemporary nonfiction titles that include a strong visual element. We specialize in publishing unique art, architecture/design, pop culture, travel, and epicurean titles.
HOLLY LORINCZ is a successful editor and collaborative writer, recently ranked in Amazon’s top #50 Kindle Biography/Memoir writers and top #100 in print Biography/Memoir for over six months.
She has multiple books out (or coming out soon) with St. Martin’s Press, Skyhorse Publishing, and Benchmark Press. Her collaborative non-fiction book, CROWN HEIGHTS, is a major movie and was one of two books used to launch a publishing imprint within Amazon, called Amazon Original Stories. The other book was The Sign of the Beast by Joyce Carol Oates.
Besides being a professional writer, Holly worked as an agent for a few years with MacGregor Literary. Holly has been editing books for over twenty years, officially establishing Lorincz Literary Services in 2010; her edited manuscripts have been picked up by agents and traditional publishers, and have won multiple awards. Her specialty is developmental editing for fiction and non-fiction, as well as collaborative writing. Her first novel, SMART MOUTH, won the national 2014 Bronze IPPY Award in Fiction.