Welcome!
The Gulf Coast Writers Association is proud to provide a forum for fellowship, education, and information for writers in our community. Whether you write for pleasure or profit, you’ll find support from our members. And with an average of 175 members, there’s always encouragement and friendly guidance to help you improve your writing skills. Plus, our monthly speakers’ events are informative and fun, providing expert advice on topics such as writing techniques, publishing, marketing, and others. So no matter what your genre: general fiction, nonfiction, poetry, children’s, young adult, historical fiction, romance, mystery/thriller, memoirs, and more, you’re in good company. Check out our website and see what exciting things we have in store for you.
Announcements
The SWFL Writer’s Conference is looking for volunteers. If you haven’t registered for the conference, consider volunteering to help. List of Volunteer positions.
Meet your Officers and Directors for 2019
Interested in joining a new critique or reading group? [list of current groups] Looking for new members for your critique group? Contact Al York.
New Writing Game
April 2019
GCWA Writing Contest Awards
Awards presented for the 2019 GCWA Writing Contest and recipients read their winning entries. To learn more and to read winning entries, visit our Contest Page.
Meeting: April 27, 2019 10:00 AM – 12:00 Noon
Location: [map, this will get you to the community; do not go to the Golf Course] Seven Lakes Community, [layout of the community grounds]
1965 Seven Lakes Blvd,
Fort Myers, FL 33907
To get to the meeting in the main building at Seven Lakes Community, enter at US-41 and Seven Lakes Blvd. Once in the gate, make an immediate right, and the building is on the left. Plenty of parking available and a restaurant on site.
Join Us!
Gulf Coast Writers provide ideas, support, encouragement, resources and networking opportunities to fellow writers. Don’t miss out on all the great speakers we have planned for the upcoming year. Click button below to learn what you will get within our association. Only $40 annual ($50 for families). Come join the fun!
LIKE our Facebook page and check out our meeting photos.
Dear Members: Renew now! We value your membership and don’t want you to miss the exciting events we have planned for this year. Dues are payable from Fall until January 31. If you haven’t renewed and plan to attend our next meeting, please bring your money or check with you. Or you can pay today! Simply click the Membership Application tab and renew your membership online via PayPal. If you aren’t sure if you have paid your membership dues, please e-mail website@GulfWriters.org.
Latest Good News
If there is an ellipsis (…) at the end of a post here, that means there is more to read. To read a complete post, click on the headline. Or, if you want to scroll through ALL of our Good News, Click Here for more good news. Good news is for members only. If you would like to join in the fun, visit the Membership Application Page to learn more about joining. If you are are a GCWA member with Good News, please send email to website@gulfwriters.org.
Jill Jennings New Book of Poetry is Published
Pineapple Wine: Poems of Maui, Jill Jennings' third full-length book of poetry,was published in December 2018. It is available for $12.95 from [...]Patricia Wentling’s book accepted by online e-zine
I am Patricia Wentling. I joined Gulf Coast Writers Association, Inc. in August of this year. My picture book story, Lucky's Violin, has been [...]Sharmin Fairbanks McKenny
Sharmin Fairbanks McKenny has a new website and blog fairbankshistory.com making it easier for viewers to access it. The old website [...]
Events
We get a lot of upcoming events sent to us, from all over Florida and even beyond. If there is an ellipsis (…) at the end of a post here, that means there is more to read. To read a complete post, click on the headline. Take a look at all the events. You can Click Here for more Events, and you can go to our calendar to see those that are posted in our local Lee county and surrounding areas. If you are affiliated with a group that is hosting an event that is relevant to authors, please send email to website@gulfwriters.org.
Southwest Florida Poetry Slam / Bonita Springs
Center for the Performing Arts Bonita Springs is holding our first ever Southwest Florida Poetry Slam, following the standard Slam rules and [...]Florida Library Association Annual Conference
Author Tables Now Available at 2019 FLA Conference Hundreds of Florida librarians alike will be attending our 2019 FLA Annual Conference. [...]Kauai Writers Conference
Kauai Writers Conference November 4-10, 2019 The Kauai Writers Conference has grown to become one of the foremost literary gatherings in the [...]
Writing Contests
If there is an ellipsis (…) at the end of a post here, that means there is more to read. To read a complete post, click on the headline. Or, if you want to scroll through ALL of Writing Contests we have heard about, Click Here for more writing contests. If you are affiliated with a group that is hosting a writing contest, please send email to website@gulfwriters.org.
Tom Howard/John H. Reid Fiction & Essay Contest
Short Story Contest Sponsored by Winning Writers and Duotrope. Win $2,000. $20 entry fee. Deadline: April 30, 2019 VISIT SITEAnthology Open Call for Submissions
2019 NCW Anthology - Call for Submission NCW is excited to announce a new mixed-genre anthology exploring the concepts of change, renewal, and [...]Masters Review Anthology
$5000 Awarded – Ten Writers Recognized Every year The Masters Review opens submissions to produce our anthology, a collection of ten stories and [...]
Announcements and Opportunities
If there is an ellipsis (…) at the end of a post here, that means there is more to read. To read a complete post, click on the headline. Or, if you want to scroll through ALL of our Announcements, Click Here for more announcements. Also, if you would like to make an announcement of your own, please send email to website@gulfwriters.org.
Anthology Open Call for Submissions
2019 NCW Anthology - Call for Submission NCW is excited to announce a new mixed-genre anthology exploring the concepts of change, renewal, and [...]2019 Southwest Florida Writers Conference
SWFL Writer's Conference The SWFL Writer's Conference is looking for volunteers. If you haven't registered for the conference, consider [...]Book Signing Opportunities
Book Signings Opportunities at Southwest Florida Military Museum and Library in Cape Coral The Southwest Florida Military Museum and Library [...]
GCWA officers
Meet the officers and directors for 2018/19.
Members Poetry and Prose
See the latest contributions by our members, Lorraine Walker Williams, Jim Gustafson and Joe Pacheco. Send your own poetry and short prose to website@gulfwriters.org.
New GCWA meeting agenda
We are replacing our long business meetings with contributions from our members. If you would like to speak at one of our meetings, please contact Bob McCarthy at Programs@GulfWriters.org or Irene Smith at Membership@GulfWriters.org
Information wanted
GCWA members — send us your photos, your bios, your books to be listed on the website — email website@gulfwriters.org.
Visit your local book stores
There are several book stores who sell books by local authors. Visit, buy books, check on selling your books on their shelves. List of stores
Looking for Word Song editor
Due to time constraints our News Magazine WORD SONG is needing an Executive Editor with MailChimp experience in order to continue. If you would like to know more about it, please email TheWord@gulfwriters.org We will continue to send out a basic meeting announcement until then. If you are not seeing these emails, please search your SPAM and PROMOTIONS folder and then add the address to your contacts list. Or contact membership@gulfwriters.org to verify that your email is in the system. You can click here to see the current edition and get instructions for how to find our emails.
Services page on website
We have added a Writing Services page to the website. GCWA members, if you have a writing-related business you would like listed, please contact website@gulfwriters.org. No fancy ads, just listings for editors, illustrators, publishers, ghost writers, website designers, etc.