Press Release:

University of North Texas' Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference

DENTON (UNT), Texas – Since 2005, the University of North Texas' Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference has awarded four book contracts to emerging authors.  This summer could be your chance to get published.

The conference, which will feature NPR host Ira Glass and be held July 24–26 at the Hilton DFW Lakes Executive Conference Center in Grapevine, is accepting manuscripts, essays and articles for its literary competition.  Additionally, the conference has teaming up with the Writer's Garret, a prominent non-profit writing organization in Dallas, to help writers prepare their entries for the competition.

The conference and competition are sponsored by the Mayborn Graduate School of Journalism, which will become part of the university's newly announced Frank W. and Sue Mayborn School of Journalism when it opens on Sept. 1.  The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board granted formal creation of the Mayborn School earlier this month upon recommendation from the UNT System Board of Regents.

Selected entries will get the opportunity to work one-on-one with industry professionals in conference workshops, which will be held July 24 (Friday) before the official start of the conference.  These entries also will compete for $15,000 in cash prizes and the chance to be published.

"This conference presents an enormous opportunity for unknown writers to get recognized and published," said George Getschow, the conference's writer-in-residence.  "There are established writers who have tried unsuccessfully for years to be published.  This is a rare opportunity."

Two copies of each entry should be mailed to the Mayborn Graduate School of Journalism at 1155 Union Circle, #311460, Denton, TX 76203, attention George Getschow.  Entries also must be submitted electronically to maybornconferenceinfo@unt.edu.  The deadline for submissions is June 1 (Monday).

Essays and articles should be no longer than 20 pages.  A non-refundable entry fee of $30 applies.  Twenty manuscripts and 50 essays will be selected for workshop participation.  For more entry information visit http://www.themayborn.unt.edu/WritingComp.htm.

Literary contest winners will be selected from a group of 70 finalists. The winner of the manuscript competition will receive $3,000 and the option to enter a book publishing contract with the UNT Press. The top three entries in the categories of personal essays and mini-memoirs and reporting and research-based narratives that focus on people will receive $3,000, $2,000 and $1,000, respectively.

The best articles and narratives and personal essays will be included in the 2010 edition of Ten Spurs, the conference's literary journal.

To register for the conference, visit www.TheMayborn.unt.edu. Conference fees are $295 for the general public. Student fees are $225. Educator fees are $270. Conference seating is limited.  For more information, call 940-565-4564. The conference is open to the public with no requirement to submit competitive essays or a book manuscript proposal.

Contestants seeking a competitive edge may participate in workshops sponsored by the Writer's Garret in Dallas.  The first workshop "Pre-Mayborn Creative Nonfiction (CNF) Workshop" will be held from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 19 (Sunday).  The workshop will be taught by Stephanie Elizondo Griest, a prominent novelist and a 2009 Mayborn Conference speaker.  Griest's workshop will be held upstairs at Paperbacks Plus, which is located at 6115 La Vista Dr. in Dallas.

"Preparing for the Mayborn," the second workshop sponsored by the Writer's Garret, will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. May 2 (Saturday) at Paperbacks Plus.  Dan Burns, the 2008 winner of the Mayborn Conference's manuscript competition, will be leading the workshop.  Getschow, UNT's writer-in-residence, will be a special guest at both workshops.

For more information on the Writer's Garret Pre-Mayborn Workshops, including pricing, call 214-828-1715, e-mail gen@writersgarret.org or visit www.writersgarret.org.