Dear Writers, Friends of Writers, and the odd Reader who appreciates good writing <g>—
Some of you may already know that the annual Surrey International Writers Conference, normally held on the third weekend of October, wasn’t held this year (2025).
I’ve been attending/teaching at this Conference (it’s the only one I do go to regularly) for the last 34 years, minus one during the bad Covid year (and even then, the heroic organizers managed to produce a smaller, virtual conference).
This year, though, the conference was canceled unexpectedly because the hotel in which it’s been held for the last thirty-odd years had a serious labor dispute with their staff, which couldn’t be resolved in time for the conference to take place.
The organizers searched high and low for another hotel, but nothing was available that would fit a conference of this size, where most of the attendees stay -in- the hotel throughout the conference.
This was, naturally, a Bad Thing, both for the attendees hoping to enjoy the conference and learn Useful Things about how to write and how to sell what you write, and for those of us who come to teach and mingle with the attending writers.
We’ve lately learned, though, that there’s something Even Worse than having to cancel this year’s conference: Owing to this year’s cancellation and the need to refund the money from it—there’s very little money left to fund and promote next year’s conference.
The SiWC is run by a non-profit foundation—meaning that one year funds the next, but there’s not a lot left over—and in this case, it means that the organizers have a $300,000 loss, which will need to be rebuilt in order for next year’s conference to happen.
I’m donating a chunk of change to the non-profit “Go Fund Me” page that’s been set up for this purpose, as are many of the long-time speakers and attendees. If you’ve come to the conference in the past, appreciated its unique nature and enjoyed its benefits, or hoped to attend a future conference—I’d ask you to consider a small donation. It would be Much Appreciated, by the organizers, the future attendees… and me. Here is the SiWC Go Fund Me page:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-siwc
THANK YOU, for whatever assistance you can offer!
-Diana
P.S.: The next Surrey International Writers Conference will be held from October 22nd to 25th, 2026. If you’d like to attend, registration for SiWC 2026 will open on their website on Wednesday, June 3, 2026 at noon Pacific time. Since SiWC is not for profit, every penny of your registration goes toward running the conference.
Images of other authors and myself above are from previous Surrey International Writers Conferences.