Nashville’s WriterFest is this week’s Community Corner spotlight!
This week’s Community Corner guests are WriterFest founder Ami McConnell and event director Sara Wigal. WriterFest is an annual gathering of writers from all mediums and branches, with the goal of creating an atmosphere to advance and develop the careers of writers from around the country. Sitting down with Brother Love, the authors discuss their move to Nashville. Both directors got their start in the publishing industry, and noted how oftentimes, Nashville isn’t known as a city for writers on the surface. However, they note the similarities between music publishing and book publishing, and how the city is ripe with opportunity.
Talking about the mission of WriterFest itself, McConnell notes that the aim is to “Inspire, power, and connect writers.” That was the initial goal of the first writerfest in 2018. Wigal notes, “Writing is never totally solo, you always need community to have words connect with people,” which fueled the ambition to spearhead the project. The first event brought together writers of song, screen, and book. They discussed their surprise when people liked it so much and wanted to come again. WriterFest only grew from there. Conference planners and behind-the-scenes employees never truly see just what happens in the lives of attendees afterwards. However, they spoke of a moment when an author informed them of the inspiration gained from WriterFest, and how that inspiration led him to starting his own business.
WriterFest features food, cocktails, and a “party first” attitude, but front and center are the panels and keynote speakers. The informative panels, aimed to help writers “elevate their career,” will take place across the weekend. The prestigious keynote, speakers will include William Paul Young, author of The Shack, Aaron Covington, screenplay writer for Creed, and famed author and podcaster Anne Bogel. WriterFest will take place from November 22-23 at Belmont University.
