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The Eastern Shore Writers’ Association elected new officers for the 2008-2009 year, effective September 1. ESWA also announced an operating partnership with the Bay to Ocean Writers Conference, now in its twelfth year.

The elected officers include: Wilson Wyatt, of Bozman, president for a second term; Judy Reveal, of Greensboro, vice president; Shar McBee, of Royal Oak, secretary; Arthur Bounds, of Henderson, treasurer; Anna Isip, of Dover, DE, parliamentarian; and board members-at-large Diane Marquette, of Cambridge, and Laura Ambler, of Easton. Pat Nugent, of Cambridge, serves on the board ex officio as a past president.

ESWA announced it has formed an operating partnership with the popular Bay to Ocean Writers Conference as “a natural fit” for both organizations.

“We have many volunteers across the Delmarva to assist the writers’ conference,” said Wilson Wyatt, president of ESWA. “And BTO will help provide ESWA with new speakers and instructors for our nonprofit programs.”

“It’s a natural fit,” said Diane Marquette, coordinator of the writers’ conference. “The time and energy of volunteers needed to create a quality conference has increased as BTO’s attendance and scope has grown. ESWA provides an organizational structure with committed volunteers from across a large region.”
Marquette and Wyatt will be co-coordinators of the writers’ conference with a steering committee of more than a dozen ESWA volunteers.

The Bay to Ocean Writers Conference was created twelve years ago with support from the Friends of the Talbot County Free Public Library. It is dedicated to the memory of local author Gilbert Byron, often called the “Thoreau of the Chesapeake.”

BTO’s conferences have grown in size and importance, attracting sell-out attendance from writers in the Chesapeake and Delmarva region as well as several other states. It maintains a nonprofit status to keep admission fees at a minimum cost for new and experienced writers.

The next Bay to Ocean Conference will be held February 21, 2009 at Chesapeake College, in Wye Mills, Maryland. Speakers, topics, and registration information will be announced in the fall. For information, see the website: www.baytoocean.com.

ESWA’s membership has doubled over the last three years, with writers from every county on the Delmarva Peninsula in Maryland and Delaware. It holds monthly programs serving both aspiring and established writers. ESWA also publishes The Delmarva Review, a new literary review open to all writers. For more information, see the website: www.easternshorewriters.org or write: ESWA, PO Box 1773, Easton, MD 21601.
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