The Surrey International Writers’ Conference (SiWC) is held every October in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada. “To inspire, educate and motivate aspiring and experienced writers alike” has been the goal of the Surrey International Writers’ Conference since its inception. The conference is conducted on a not-for-profit basis and is planned, organized and run by a volunteer board, conference coordinator, and many volunteers.
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The 2012 Conference will be held on October 19, 20, and 21, 2012. Master Classes will be held on October 18.
The extensive list of past presenters includes many award-winning authors, including: Terry Brooks, Catherine Coulter, Jennifer Crusie, Robert Dugoni, Hallie Ephron, Diana Gabaldon, Annabel Lyon, Phillip Margolin, Robert McCammon, Jacqueline Mitchard, Anne Perry, Mary Jo Putney, Karen Robards, John Saul, Robert J. Sawyer, Michael Slade, Meg Tilly, Jack Whyte.
The SiWC Writing Contest is held annually in conjunction with the conference. Categories are Storyteller's (short story), Non-Fiction, Poetry, and Writing for Young People. Prizes awarded to the winners at the awards ceremony on the first evening of the conference. First place in each category wins $1000, honorable mentions $150.Winners and honorable mentions are published in an anthology of winning entries.
The Surrey Writers’ Conference began in 1993 as the brainchild of Ed Griffin, Ursula Maxwell-Lewis, Carol Monaghan and Elisa Carlson.
The conference first took place at Johnson Heights Secondary School and was attended by just over 100 people. The organizers considered it a success and began planning for an even bigger and better conference the following year. The second conference moved to the Sheraton Guildford Hotel, where it has remained ever since, and featured best-selling author Maeve Binchey as a keynote speaker, arranged in cooperation with the Vancouver Writers’ Festival. The conference continued to grow in its third year but took off in its fourth year when Diana Gabaldon became involved. She liked what the conference was attempting to accomplish and has remained its champion ever since, as have many other best-selling authors and noted editors and agents.
In 2001, the ninth conference saw the addition of Thursdays as a pre-conference day of Master Classes. On the tenth anniversary of the conference in 2002, the growth and reach of the conference was recognized by including ‘international’ in the official title to become the Surrey International Writers’ Conference.
The conference operated as an extension of the Surrey School District’s Continuing Education department as a non-profit event from its inception up to and including the 2010 conference. It now operates as a not-for-profit society, the Surrey International Writers' Conference Society.
Presenters have come from as far away as Japan and Scotland while attendees hail from as far away as South America, Europe and Australia.