By Kristen Nevarez Schweizer
March 28, 2024
The literary landscape of San Diego will unify for learning, networking, and camaraderie at the fifth annual San Diego Writers Festival on Saturday, April 6 from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm. In collaboration with The Coronado Public Library and Warwick’s, this esteemed event spearheaded by co-founders Marni Freedman and Jeniffer Thompson, brims with intellectual discourse and creative exchange that are all free and open to the public.
“The biggest challenge people are going to face is choosing what to go see,” says Anastasia Zadeik, award-winning novelist and Director of Communications for the festival. The jam-packed schedule boasts renowned authors, local professionals, and publishing industry veterans in main stage talks, pens-out workshops, and diverse panels. With a staggering lineup of over 90 speakers and 40 events, everyone can find inspiration on this incredible day.
The 2024 festival schedule includes local, New York Times bestselling author Dr. Judith Orloff, celebrated for her insightful latest work, The Genius of Empathy, and the Emmy-award-winning writer and filmmaker Ed Zwick, whose distinguished career includes cinematic masterpieces like Legends of the Fall and Shakespeare in Love. Dean Nelson interviews Pulitzer-Prize Winning Journalist Dean Calbreath about his most recent book, The Sergeant. Mystery writers Matt Coyle, Rachel Howzell Hall, Joe Ide will discuss “Putting the Character in Character-Driven Mysteries” and a panel featuring female memoirists address sobriety and recovery in “Quit Lit: A Genre, a Movement, a Lifeline.” Aspiring authors and seasoned professionals can seek inspiration within programs such as “Better Days: An Interactive Workshop on Taming Your Inner Critic” with Neal Allen, husband of Anne Lamott.
“I’m most looking forward to hearing the courage,” says Phyllis Olins, panel moderator for “It’s Never Too Late to Write, to Publish, to Change Genres.” Her speakers include “female authors of a certain age and we’re seeing the light that started in the 1960s and 70s, when everything changed and they didn’t hang back. It’s an extraordinarily bold group; the conversation will sizzle.”
“I’ve been doing an Ed Zwick-a-thon in preparation for the festival,” says Marni Freedman, festival co-founder, “[The Emmy-award-winning filmmaker’s memoir features] stories about Brad Pitt and Matthew Broderick and all these stars, but it’s very much Zwick’s story. It’s a real study in memoir—he’s giving movie history—but you’re also learning from a real artist. He doesn’t spare the truth but doesn’t do it with cruelty. It’s going to be a fascinating talk.”
Teri Granillo, aspiring memoirist and poet, is “excited to be surrounded by a community of writers and to access people I wouldn’t otherwise get to hear from.” While many writing conferences and book festivals are exclusive or costly, the hardworking visionaries, volunteers, generous speakers, and local sponsors of San Diego’s Writers Festival keep it completely free to the public.
For those unable to attend in person, the festival extends its reach through “The Premise,” its official podcast. Mark your calendars, RSVP, and immerse yourself in a day of literary splendor. The San Diego Writers Festival awaits, poised to ignite the imagination and kindle the flames of creativity.
