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Register now to join the third annual HopeWords Writers' Conference. The conference is for everyone who has ever felt the desire to write, from novice to expert. Join us as we endeavor to inspire and equip Christian writers who will tell stories of hope.

Featured Writers

Andrew Peterson

Andrew Peterson is an award-winning singer-songwriter and author. The second book in his Wingfeather Saga, North! Or Be Eaten (2009) won the Christy Award for Young Adult Fiction, and the fourth, The Warden and the Wolf King (2014) won World Magazine’s Children’s Book of the Year in 2015.

In 2008, driven by a desire to cultivate a strong Christian arts community, Andrew founded a ministry called The Rabbit Room, which led to a yearly conference, countless concerts and symposiums, and Rabbit Room Press, which has published thirty books to date.

He’s been married to his wife Jamie for 24 years and they have three children. His eldest is an animation student at Lipscomb University, his second son is a touring drummer and record producer, and his daughter recently released her first album. In his spare time Andrew keeps bees, builds dry stack stone walls, gardens, draws, and sleeps.

S. D. Smith

S. D. Smith is the author of The Green Ember Series, a middle-grade adventure saga. The Green Ember spent time as the number one bestselling audiobook in the world on Audible. Smith’s stories are captivating readers across the globe who are hungry for “new stories with an old soul.” Enthusiastic families can’t get enough of these tales.

Vintage adventure. Moral imagination. Classic virtue. Finally, stories we all love. Just one more chapter, please!

When he’s not writing adventurous tales of #RabbitsWithSwords in his writing shed, dubbed The Forge, Smith loves to speak to audiences about storytelling, creation, and seeing yourself as a character in The Story.

S. D. Smith lives in West Virginia with his wife and four kids.

www.sdsmith.net

Dr. Karen Swallow Prior (Notorious KSP)

Dr. Karen Swallow Prior, Ph. D., will be joining the faculty of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary as full-time research professor of English and Christianity & Culture beginning in the fall semester of 2020. She writes frequently on literature, culture, ethics, and ideas. Her writing appears at Christianity Today, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, First Things, Vox, Think Christian, The Gospel Coalition, Books and Culture and other places. She is the author of Booked: Literature in the Soul of Me (T. S. Poetry Press, 2012), Fierce Convictions: The Extraordinary Life of Hannah More—Poet, Reformer, Abolitionist (Thomas Nelson, 2014), and On Reading Well: Finding the Good Life through Great Literature (Brazos, 2018).

She is a Research Fellow with the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, a Senior Fellow with Liberty University’s Center for Apologetics and Cultural Engagement, a Senior Fellow with the TrinityForum, and a member of the Faith Advisory Council of the Humane Society of the United States. Karen and her husband live in rural Virginia with sundry dogs, horses, and chickens.

Hannah Anderson

Hannah Anderson lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia where she spends her days writing and reading and caring for her family. The author of multiple books, she also cohosts Persuasion Podcast where she hopes to spur good conversation about all that's good, true, and beautiful. You can connect with her at her blog and on Twitter @sometimesalight .

Dr. Lewis Brogdon

Dr. Brogdon is a Bluefield native who is currently the visiting professor of Preaching and Black Studies at Baptist Seminary of Kentucky.

Brogdon was the founding director of Louisville Presbyterian Seminary's Black Church Studies program. He was also the provost at Simmons College of Kentucky. He was the dean of institutional effectiveness and research at Bluefield College.

Brogdon has written multiple books such as "A Companion to Philemon" and "The Spirituality of Black Preaching."

Schedule

The Enchanted Grove: Redemption in Story and Place

Andrew Peterson - Friday 7PM
Our memories are suspect, and sometimes the narratives we rehearse about our own lives require the correction of an outside force. Grace is a joyful ambush, an unlooked-for blessing—and sometimes it comes by way of stories. Andrew talks about the way fiction refashioned the pain of his childhood into a longing for Christ and a reminder that all things work together for our good and God’s glory.

Ten Humble Habits: A Starting Place for Imaginative Writers

S. D. Smith - Saturday 9AM
West Virginia author S. D. Smith, creator of those fantastic and rabbity adventures in The Green Ember Series, shares ten practical habits that kindle our imaginations. Our imaginations matter whether we are writers or firefighters (or whatever) because that’s where we form our affections. And it’s not what you know, it’s what—and who—you love that matters. A helpful, hospitable talk for anyone who values the imagination and wants to form habits that help this crucial capacity grow.

Writing through the Earthquake: When Your Place Shifts

Hannah Anderson - Saturday 10AM
For good or bad, we tend to think of a place as fixed and permanent with the greatest challenge being our coming to terms with it, letting it shape us and our writing. But what happens when the land under your feet is unstable? What happens when you live on a fault line? How do you write from a sense of place when your place changes?

Writing Like The Prophets: An Invitation for Imagination

Lewis Brogdon - Saturday 11AM
This session will explore my work as a Christian writer of seven books, over twenty-five articles, as well as pamphlets and cards. Special attention will be given to the personal journey of a writer and how space informs experience and passion for writing, an approach grounded in the biblical story of writing prophets. The session will end with a model of writing that serves as an invitation for imagination.

Three Good Words

Andrew Peterson - Saturday 1PM
Andrew will share about three of his favorite words, words full of re-centering power, epitomized in the works of Tolkien, Lewis, and Wendell Berry.

From, To, and Toward: The Multi-Directional Way of Good Writing (and How to Do It)

Aaron Hanbury - 2PM
The idea is that writing (IMO) is always to an audience, but it can't stop there. Not if it's good. Good writing points or moves a reader, along with the writer, toward something (or someone, in our case). So, you could say, from a place, to another place, and toward an altogether different place. I think I could pull this off in a way that starts aspirational and moves to practical (like connecting with readers requires attention to words and style and platform and all that.)

Memories Worthy of Your Memoir

Karen Swallow Prior - Saturday 3PM
A memoir is a story--your true story, but a story nevertheless. And even true stories need to be selective in presenting details to develop character, place, and theme. We'll discuss these elements of a memoir and more--and practice making some of these selections, too.

Travel and Accommodations

HopeWords is held on the campus of Bluefield College in the beautiful mountains of Bluefield, VA.

The Bluefield Inn

Welcome to the Bluefield Inn, a bed and breakfast/boutique hotel where you will be pampered in elegance and comfort. Click Here to check availability and reserve a room online.

The Baker's Hill Inn

The Baker's Hill Inn is a beautifully restored historic home in the heart of Bluefield, WV. Click Here for more information.

Comfort Inn Bluefield, VA

The Comfort Inn is the closest hotel to the venue. Most other hotel options would be in Princeton, WV. These would be a 20 minute drive from the venue. Book online or call The Comfort Inn at (276)708-7487.

Registration includes desserts on Friday and lunch on Saturday. Register today!