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Learn more about the conference at this link: https://www.catholicwritersguild.org/online-conference |
I'm preparing to give a presentation at the Catholic Writers Guild Online Conference, Jan. 31-Feb. 2 (2025). During my research, I wondered whether writers gathered for professional meetings or conferences in Florida's pioneer days. Artists were known to flock together here The art colony at Hotel Ponce de Leon in St. Augustine was famous during the Gilded Age.
All such gatherings in that age were in person, not virtual like the upcoming CWGO. If you're reading this before Jan. 31, 2025, there's still time to register for CWGO. It's a great conference and reasonably priced: $45 for Guild members; $65 for nonmembers. Presentations are Jan. 31, Feb. 1 and 2, and pitch sessions to publishers are Feb. 10-13. Learn more at https://www.catholicwritersguild.org/online-conference.
Back to the Gilded Age in Florida. I dove into one of my favorite research portals: old newspapers. And found few mentions of writers gathering for a conferences or meetings. I browsed newspapers from the 1890s to 1930.
The lack of information was frustrating because Florida is famous for being a writer's haven. There's an entire book about it: The Book Lover's Guide to Florida. I have it; it's a fabulous look at authors who lived or wrote here, and the sites associated with them. Here's a link on Google Books.
So, what did I discover about writing and Florida in the late 1800s and early 1900s? Well, St. Augustine did have a bookstore. The city's Tatler newspaper carried a notice in its Jan. 26, 1895, edition:
"A favorite haunt of book lovers is El Unico, the shop under the great arch of Hotel Cordova. ...All of the leading books are received as soon as issued, and every day one finds new volumes on the tables."
The scant mention of literary meetings concerned newspaper writers or out-of-state news. One example was a notice about British writer Rudyard Kipling resigning from the Society of Authors after being a member for 25 years. He disliked how the organization supported "charity books published in aid of the war." The war was World War I, as the notice appeared in the Daytona Daily News on April 14, 1917.
Members of the Alabama Press Association toured St. Augustine in January 1895 on a trip that included several other stops in Florida and in Cuba. The Tatler's coverage focused on places the members visited in the Oldest City and mentioned nothing about a conference or presentations.
The only thing the gathering stirred up was gossip. A subsequent news item chided the city's Board of Trade for its conspicuous absence during the group's public welcome to the city. The power of print media was stronger back then. It was a time before the internet and even before TV and radio. Happily, the press association members said they had a great time in St. Augustine.
Writers were the ones who got the word out about Florida. Travel writers, authors, poets, novelists, essayists -- writers of all kinds and all levels of prestige - explored the state. The influx began in the mid-1800s and has never let up. But apparently in the early days, writers here didn't assemble for professional gatherings. They traveled here alone or with family or friends. It's almost hard for me to think about a time when writers conferences didn't exist.
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| Writers gathered with other creative artists, as this 1912 issue of the Pensacola Journal tells readers. |
Frontier writer interactions took place mainly on the personal or small-group level. Professional gatherings were worthy of newspaper mention. The Pensacola Journal in January 1912 let readers know that authors, poets, sculptors and musicians were assembled in Philadelphia for the annual meeting of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the National Institute of Arts and Letters. But Philly is a long way from Florida.
Some aspects of writing transcend both time and distance, however. A reader letter published in the March 1, 1893, edition of the Florida Agriculturist complained about the damage and misinformation "bad" writers can do. He? She? -- no name is given--was irked by a popular garden writer and speaker full of endless advice that many people followed. The letter writer visited the popular writer's plant nursery and found it to be a disappointing failure of wilted and dying flora.
Writers have always needed guidance. More reason to attend the CWCO! There's always something new to learn. Once you look at the list of presentations, I think you'll agree. Scroll to the bottom of this page to find links about presentations, presenters and pitch sessions: https://www.catholicwritersguild.org/online-conference
