The Horror Writers Association (HWA) has decided to hold its own, stand-alone convention every other year, as a setting for its annual Stoker Awards. The first of HWA’s own events will be in 2011, somewhere on the east coast of the USA, for the first time since 2006 (next year’s Stokers will be handed out at the World Horror Convention in Brighton, England). The HWA conventions, taking a page from SFWA, will include “panels, author signings, pitch sessions with publishers, networking opportunities, and the annual Bram Stoker Awards Banquet.”
HWA President Deborah LeBlanc said, “Due to the overwhelming, positive response we received at this year’s Stoker Weekend [in Burbank, California], the HWA’s Board has decided to take yet another step towards the organization’s overall growth and development.” LeBlanc continues “current plans are to hold a stand-alone Stoker event every other year, and for those events to occur on a rotating basis across North America from the West coast to the East coast, and in the Midwest. This every-other-year format is the perfect balance that will allow us to partner with other conventions, like WHC, in alternate years, while still maintaining individuality on par with HWA’s rising visibility and status in the publishing industry. It will also allow members from various parts of the country easier access to organizational gatherings, while keeping an open door with the World Horror Convention, which allows options for gatherings with international members.”
The Horror Writers Association is “a nonprofit organization of writers and publishing professionals around the world, dedicated to promoting dark literature and the interests of those who write it. HWA was formed in the late 1980’s, and today has over 400 members around the globe.”
Related articles previously published on SFScope:
2009 Bram Stoker Award Winners (13 June 2009)
2009 Bram Stoker Awards Final Ballot and Lifetime Achievement Award Winners (23 March 2009)