2023 Mango Writers Conference
Dear Members and Non-members Alike,
Our 2023 Mango Writers Conference will be held on Saturday, February 25!
CONFERENCE THEME:
Writing in All Kinds of Places
We shall hear about writing behind bars, in the doctor’s office, abroad, and on the sports field. Be there with us.
Prices: Members: $60.00
Non-Members: $75.00
Student Rate: $45.00
You can register here on the site at our payments page. Or send a check to:
SFWA,PO BOX 56-2652, Miami, FL 33256
Registration Deadline has been extended!
We don't want you to miss this!
If you have any questions, please Contact Ricki Dorn at abbasone@att.net
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2023 Mango Writers Conference
Enjoy the 2023 Mango Writers Conference at the Miami Springs Golf and Country Club.
PROGRAM:
9:00 Sign in,
Continental breakfast, t-shirts, browse/buy books, survey the lottery prizes, buy lottery tickets, network with others
9:30 INTRO & welcome from Conference Chair Ricki Dorn;
Intro with President Mort Laitner & Mango Conference Team.
Writing warm-up.
10:00 1st-Kathi & Darren: Writing Behind Bars
Talk 30 min
Q/A 10 min.
Discussion breakout group at your table 15 minutes
1 - compare/contrast writing when incarcerated and not
2 - benefits of writing in prison to inmate when he/she gets out
Break 10 minutes
11:15
KEYNOTE 2nd Christina Mayo: Writing While Traveling
Talk 30 min
Q/A 10 min,
Writing breakout at your table 10 min
1 - Flavor of the three different spots mentioned
2- What can you tell about the people there?
Share if you care to: 10 min
Jeff Dorn Jeff Dorn will speak about the prize lottery 5 minutes
12:15 LUNCH - 1 hour Networking -- Distribute evaluations
1:15
3rd Glenn Patron: At Sea With Humor
Talk 30 min
Q/A 10 min
At your tables discuss how humor expands the appeal of your writing to a wider audience 5 min.
Write a humorous story 5 min
2:15 Rafflemaster Jeff Dorn awards lottery prize(s)
2:30
4th-Pamela Lear:
Narrative Medicine:
Writing-Based Creativity for Our Health
Talk 30 min
Q/A 10 min
Role play at your tables; first write, then speak 15 min
3:25 Return evaluations, exchange business cards,
Say good byes, take home the magic!!
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Darren Tinker and Kathie Klarreich
"Writing Behind Bars"
KATHIE KLARREICH is a career journalist who spent half of her nearly 30-year career based in Haiti, where she wrote for print (New York Times, Time Magazine and Christian Science Monitor, among others), radio (NPR, Monitor Radio) and produced for television (NBC, ABC). Her memoir, Madame Dread: A Tale of Love, Vodou and Civil Strife in Haiti, documents much of that period. her work is also included in several other anthologies.
In 2014, Klarreich founded the nonprofit Exchange for Change, which facilitates writing courses in state and federal prisons, county jails, juvenile residential centers and re-entry facilities. The South Florida based organization has reached nearly 2000 incarcerated writers, trained nearly 100 people to teach inside, released Hear Us: Writing from the Inside During the Time of Covid and created a literary journal, Don't Shake the Spoon. Volume 3 was just released this fall.
DARREN TINKER ( DT) Is a public speaker and writer who found his passions behind bars. After being both falsely accused and wrongfully incarcerated for over three years Darren has made it his goal to become an activist for prison education and change. By speaking at universities and events such as Florida International University (FIU), University of Miami (UM), and The Miami Book Fair he hopes to help people see the importance and significant impact of programs like Exchange for Change.
Pamela Lear"Narrative Medicine: Writing-Based Creativity for Our Health"
Christina Moss Mayo
"Writing While Traveling"
CHRISTINA MOSS MAYO has been a writer since she was a little girl. Following in the footsteps of her mother, legendary journalist Bea Moss, she took over the Miami Herald’s Friends & Neighbors column in 2007. Her news articles for the Herald include profiles of pandemic first responders, health /education articles, restaurant and chef profiles, annual Holiday Lights, summer camps, bazaars, and craft fair stories.
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For 15 years, Christina taught journalism to 4th, 5th, and 6th graders at St. Thomas Episcopal Parish School, and rebooted the Gulliver Schools' journalism program for middle schoolers She also co-chaired the Great Art parent-teaching program at St. Thomas and brought in numerous local guest artists.
A graduate of Miami Coral Park Sr. High and the University of Florida, she was an advertising copywriter before joinng the new technology of videotext begun by AT&T and Knight Ridder News-spapers. She was editor of the Viewtron team that invented the first email and messaging systems, with graphics for personal computers, 10 years before AOL. Christina wrote Viewtron service instruction manuals. She published her newsletter, Weekend Getaways,traveling around the U.S. with a baby, before having two more children. She now serves as a final round judge of the Jr. Orange Bowl Creative Writing Competition. Passionate about meditation, sci-fi, art, nature, and birds, she recently became a Tropical Audubon Ambassador.
Ricki Dorn
Conference Director
PAMELA LEAR writes personal essays and is currently writing her memoir, a mother/ daughter medical narrative. She facilitates a variety of writing workshops, including one designed specifically for individuals with chronic illness and/or disability.
Pamela graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara. In May 2023, she will receive her MFA in Creative Nonfiction from Bay Path University. Her program concentrates on Narrative Medicine, a writing-focused practice incorporating pedagogy for developing writing and healing workshops.
A resident of Miami for ten years, Pamela lives in Cutler Bay with her husband of almost forty years. Her daughter and two young granddaughters live nearby, keeping life fun and surprising all the time. She never knows when a three-year old might come knocking on her door, wanting to play. She has been writing poetry since childhood and published five books.
Use this space to introduce yourself and share your professional history.
RICKI DORN, Conference Director, is a retired English composition professor She holds a BS in education from Ohio State University and an MA in English from FIU. She taught high school English and journalism and was a news
reporter in New Jersey, Georgia, and Florida. Ricki is a past president and dedicated board member of South Florida Writers Association; she is also in Golden Key International, Phi Theta Kappa, and FIU Alumni Association. She was tapped for The International Women's Leadership Association.
A native New Yorker who grew up in Ohio and long-time Miamian, Ricki is a visible figure on the academic and creative scenes. She wrote and leads these workshops: Kickstart Your Creativity; Grief, Write Your Way Through It; Forgiveness; and Poetry Construction.
She has been writing poetry since childhood. She likes to formulate as well as play word games, and is a grammar guru. Strands of Rhyme: Poems from the Real World and Poetry, My First Language are her two general poetry books, each containing 91 selections. The Joy of Jewish Holidays in Rhyme and Monica’s Chanukah & More
Glenn Patron
"At Sea With Humor"
Young Glenn Patron spent his childhood dreaming of a life of adventure like the stories he read in the sanctuary of his bedroom in the suburbs of New York City.
When opportunity knocked in Puerto Rico, Glenn left the Big Apple to try his luck at entrepreneurship in the Caribbean. During the years he spent on the island he became a business owner, stand-up comedian, motorcycle racer, husband, father and emerging sailor.
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After 20 years’ labor Glenn sold his industrial supply business, bought a 56’ sailboat and embarked on a five year adventure that took him around the Caribbean, across the Atlantic and sailing along the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts of Europe.
His memoir, The Accidental Captain, (one of Amazon’s “Hot new books of the month” when published) describes his saga of learning to sail and how it changed his life.
While there has been no sequel, his humorous magazine articles can be found in magazines focused on sailing and cruising.
Glenn and wife Gale now live in a small house in Coconut Grove, Florida.
They keep their Hunter 36' sloop nearby and Glenn spends his days playing tennis,
riding the 1964 BMW motorcycle he restored, and working with community organizations