Barrelhouse Lovin'

If you're in the DC area and looking for a little spring jumpstart to your writing, I highly recommend the Barrelhouse-sponsored, third annual "Conversations and Connections" conference, which will be held on April 11 in downtown DC. From their newsletter:

"Amy Hempel is the featured speaker, and there'll be all kinds of writer and editor people there. For just $55, you get the full conference, a book, a lit mag subscription, and one ticket to Speed Dating with Editors. More information and registration is available on the site: Click here to check out the schedule, speaker bios, and to register now.

We think there's a lot of stuff here that will appeal to new and established writers. We'll have panels on flash fiction, using experimental prompts to fight writer's block (by our own Matt Kirkpatrick), sentence power, writing sex scenes, taking or leaving workshop advice, money for writers, rethinking poetry publishing methods, online publishing, POV in the novel, agents, contests, creative nonfiction, and, well, that's about it.

Some of the best established and cutting-edge literary magazines will be there, including 32 Poems, Blackbird, Entasis Press, failbetter, FC2, Gargoyle, Gettysburg Review, JMWW, Keyhole, LOCUSPOINT, No Tell Motel and No Tell Books, Publishing Genius, Smartish Pace, Storyquarterly, Twelve Stories, Willows Wept Press, and more more more. Plus, the full Barrelhouse editorial squadron, fresh off our resounding dance-off victory over One Story and looking for challengers.

It's a good deal! Sign up now -- this sucker has sold out the past few years."

Seriously, just the list of all the lit mags that will be represented is amazing. Check it out! I believe in these guys.