The strong applause that introduced and closed the May 2011 Scribblers' Retreat Writers' Conference has become Scribblers' mantra and inspiration in continuing to promote the "writing side" of literacy. The conference, which is the first of three that will be held this year, took place May 12-14 in the oceanfront Solarium room at the King and Prince hotel.

The conference began with such captivating speakers as Denise Tompkins, Ricki Schultz, Chuck Barrett, Pat Bertram and June Hall McCash, and came to a close with Jane Wood, Dr. Anya Silver, Victor DeGenti and keynote speaker, Phillip Margolin. Speakers enlightened attendants with topics that ranged from effective query letter writing, creating life-like characters, and improving narrative drive, to online presence-building, teaching storytelling skills in classrooms and even the enchanted craft of poetry writing.

Phillip Margolin, whose 15 novels have all appeared on the New York Times bestseller list, provided attendants with everything they needed to find "spare time" and use it to complete their novel.

The fascinating topics covered by each of the writers left all attendants eager for the August 2011 conference. The May conference ended Saturday evening with an exciting announcement: beginning August 11-13, 2011, Scribblers' will continue to promote the literary arts and literacy at their new host venue, The Lodge of Sea Island!

Scribblers' thanks all of our contributing sponsors who make it possible for our organization to provide sponsorships to students. We also recognize all the teachers, students, writers, and speakers who attended the conference allowing us to continue to promote the "writing side" of literacy in a most practical way.