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
Register now for SWFL Writer’s Conference.
Documentation and more information here.
New Submission Guidelines for One-on-One Sessions
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
February 2019
Finbarr Corr was born in Ireland and came to the US as “missionary” priest in 1960. He finished his education with an Ed D from Columbia University. During his 28 years as a priest he was very involved working with youth and engaged couples. He resigned the priesthood to marry and started his own marriage and family counseling practice. He taught psychology for ten years and has been an author for 15 years. He has written and independently published numerous books, including two autobiographies, one memoir of a 93-year-old friend, one book for married couples, and one for teens and their parents. Website: www.finbarrcorr.com
10:00 AM – 12:00 Noon
Location: [map]Zion Lutheran Church,
7401 Winkler Road,
Fort Myers, FL 33919
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 Reading Festival 2019
20 Years Celebrating the Power of Reading! Saturday, March 2, 2019, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Fort Myers Regional Library Campus 2450 First St, [...]Valentine Spoken Wordplay Mic
Poetry and love poetry will be alive and well in the month of February in Southwest Florida. We will celebrate Valentine's Day belatedly (but [...]2019 Southwest Florida Writers Conference
SWFL Writer's Conference SWFLSubmission Guidelines for One-on-One [...]
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.
Aesthetica Creative Writing Award
Opportunities for Writers Poetry & Short Fiction Submissions OpenAesthetica Creative Writing Award is Open for Entries Showcase your work [...]2019 FAPA President’s Book Awards
Each year, the FAPA President’s Book Awards program recognizes book publishing excellence and creativity in design, content, and production [...]Poets Meet Politics 2019
Hungry Hill Writing invites you to submit poems for this year's Poets Meet Politics International Open Poetry Competition 2019 We are delighted [...]
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.
2019 Southwest Florida Writers Conference
SWFL Writer's Conference SWFLSubmission Guidelines for One-on-One [...]Ironsights: A Collection of Veteran Poetry
PRCW is accepting poems until March 17 for a poetry anthology entitled "Ironsights: A Collection of Veteran Poety" to be published by Peace River [...]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.