Keynote

Raymond L. Atkins

We are pleased to announce two-time Georgia Author of the Year recipient Raymond L. Atkins as the keynote speaker for the 2019 Highlands Writers Conference. He resides in Rome, Georgia and teaches English at Georgia Northwestern Technical College and Creative Writing at Reinhardt University.

In 2017, he was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Georgia Writers Association.

2019 Writers & Workshops

Fiction: Ray Atkins (Featured Writer)

Raymond L. Atkins resides in Rome, Georgia. He teaches English at Georgia Northwestern Technical College and Creative Writing at Reinhardt University. His first novel, The Front Porch Prophet, was published in 2008 and was awarded the Georgia Author of the Year Award for First Novel. His second novel, Sorrow Wood, was published in 2009. His third novel, Camp Redemption, was released in 2013 and was awarded the Ferrol Sams Award for Fiction and the 2014 Georgia Author of the Year Award for Fiction. His fourth novel, Sweetwater Blues, was a Townsend Prize nominee, the 2015 Georgia Author of the Year runner-up for fiction, and the 2016 selection for One Book, Many Voices. South of the Etowah, his first creative non-fiction book, was released in 2016. It was nominated for a Pushcart Prize and was named the 2016 Lincoln Memorial University Appalachian Book of the Year. In 2017, Atkins was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Georgia Writers Association. Set List is his latest novel.

Memoir: Anjali Enjeti

Anjali Enjeti teaches creative nonfiction in the Etowah Valley MFA program at Reinhardt University and serves as Vice President of Membership for the National Books Critics Circle. Her work has most recently appeared in Guernica, The Paris Review, Al Jazeera, The Georgia Review, The Week, The Atlantic, Vice, NPR, Atlanta Journal Constitution, The Guardian, and the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Poetry: Christopher Martin

Christopher Martin, the 2018 Georgia Author of the Year in Memoir, is author of This Gladdening Light: An Ecology of Fatherhood and Faith, published by Mercer University Press and recipient of the Will D. Campbell Award in Creative Nonfiction. He is also author of three poetry chapbooks. A contributing editor at New Southerner, Chris teaches English at Kennesaw State University and creative nonfiction at the Appalachian Young Writers Workshop. His work appears in publications across the country. Chris holds an MA in Professional Writing from Kennesaw State and was named the program’s 2018 Distinguished Alumnus. You can find Chris online at www.christopher-martin.net.

Screenwriting: Charles Thomas

Charles Thomas is a screenwriter living in Atlanta, Georgia. His recent projects are the You42 series More Than a Game and the award-winning script for the upcoming feature film Kaylee, Age 8. He’s also written TV pilots, web series, several short films, and released his first novel, Brine, in 2018. Charles also runs the podcast Atlanta Film Chat, which has covered the Atlanta & Georgia film industry weekly since 2014.

2019 Publishing Panel

Will Donnelly

Will Donnelly’s fiction and nonfiction have appeared or are forthcoming in Barrelhouse, Hobart, [PANK], Silk Road, The Potomac Review, Pebble Lake Review, Fiction Southeast, Quick Fiction, Clockhouse, Green Mountains Review, Crack the Spine, decomP magazinE, Smokelong Quarterly, Five Chapters, Jellyfish Review, Punchnel’s, and The Houston Chronicle. He is a fiction editor and social media coordinator for Jukedmagazine. He holds an MFA in fiction writing from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and a PhD in literature and creative writing from the University of Houston. He is an Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at Berry College in Rome, Georgia.

Anna Sandy-Elrod

Anna Sandy-Elrod is a PhD student studying poetry at Georgia State University, where she also teaches English Composition and Intro to Creative Writing. She is the current Editor in Chief of New South and Managing Editor of Muse/A. Her work can be found or is forthcoming in the Santa Ana River Review, Nightjar Review, the North American Review, Bluestem, Arkana, and others. She lives in Atlanta with her husband and three cats.

Nury Castillo Crawford

Nury (Castillo) Crawford is originally from Peru, South America. She migrated to Columbus, Indiana at the age of ten along with her family. When Nury arrived, no one spoke Spanish at the school nor did she speak any English. ESOL classes were non-existent in 1979 at Mount Healthy Elementary. Nury completed her bachelor’s degree, master’s degree, got married, had her first son and began teaching by the age of 24. Nury currently resides in metro Atlanta and has dedicated her life to the education of children. As the population changes, she has found yet another thread in common with many children and families migrating from Spanish speaking countries. She finds satisfaction helping all children find their strengths and self-confidence. Through the message of love, perseverance, and confidence, she is a true believer in having the power of making a change.