Sinclair Lewis Writers’ Conference
October 3, 2026
Celebrating 36 Years
One of the longest-running, most respected writers’ conferences in the Midwest is back in Sauk Centre for its 36th year!
This year’s conference keynote speaker will be Marcie Rendon, mystery writer, who will speak on Writing Rural. Three other presenters will join Marcie during the day-long conference, digging into the process of writing as well as selling what you write. Douglas Wood will share insights regarding The Writer’s Path. Payal Doshi will speak about Creating Immersive Worlds with Authentic Cultural Representation. And Peter Geye will discuss the Ten Questions to Get You Started on Your Novel.
This highly praised conference has, in past years, attracted such renowned keynote speakers as Frederick Manfred, Robert Bly, Jon Hassler, Carol Bly, Bill Holm, Bart Sutter, Patricia Hampl, Jim Klobuchar, Kevin Kling, Don Shelby, James Bradley, Faith Sullivan, Will Weaver, Gary Paulsen and Danny Klecko.
The conference is on Saturday, October 3, 2026 at the Sauk Centre High School auditorium in Sauk Centre, Minnesota. Cost is $85, including a catered lunch and breaks. College students and senior citizens may register for $80; high school students may attend for free, but must register and pay $25 for lunch and breaks. The conference day ends with a reception at the local Palmer House Hotel.
The Sinclair Lewis Writers Conference will again be available virtually as well as in-person. Cost for the virtual event is $40. You can register online, or send your check payable to “Sinclair Lewis Writers Conference” and mail it to: Writers Conference; Sinclair Lewis Foundation; P.O. Box 25: Sauk Centre, MN 56378.
“I think the Sinclair Lewis Writers Conference in Sauk Centre is one of the best values going in the Midwest. It allows aspiring writers to plug in for a day with well-known authors and fellow book lovers. You’ll learn a lot, and it’s downright fun.”
— Will Weaver
Cocktails and Conversation
Join us for an informative and spirited discussion on the evening of Friday October 2 for our eighth annual “Cocktails and Conversation” event! We will gather at Babbitt’s Wine Bar in Sauk Centre at 7pm for a social time with cash bar, followed by a brief book summation and open discussions around some key issues in one of Sinclair Lewis’s novels (to be announced soon!) Whether you have read the book or not, we hope you will find this gathering and discussion to be both meaningful and fun, while taking away a deeper appreciation of Sinclair Lewis and his writing.
There is no charge to attend Cocktails and Conversation, though free-will donations are appreciated.
Conference Overview
The conference is open to all interested writers. Each participant will attend three workshops and a panel discussion (one hour each), plus the keynote talk. Lunch will be served to those registering up to three days before the conference and will give participants an opportunity to chat with other writers and with the presenters.
NOTE: The conference will be held in-person and also as a virtual event for those who choose to attend the conference from the comfort of home!
Sinclair Lewis, the first American to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, was a mentor to many aspiring writers during his career. This conference, held in Lewis’ hometown of Sauk Centre, Minnesota, is a tribute to a writer who took the time to help other writers hone their craft. This is our 36th annual writers' conference and, based on the enthusiastic response following the previous 35, we will continue our purpose of encouraging and inspiring writers of all ages and abilities.
This year’s conference features Marcie Rendon, award-winning mystery writer. She is joined by three presenters, including a novelist, a children’s fiction writer, and a nature writer.
In-person cost of the day-long conference (including lunch, breaks and reception) is $85. College students and senior citizens can register for $80. High school students may attend for free, paying $25 for the cost of their lunch. Virtual event registration is $40, which includes the panel discussion, keynote talk and three presentations.
The Sinclair Lewis 2026 Writers Conference is made possible by the financial sponsorship of the following organizations: Minnesota National Bank of Sauk Centre, Pine Country Bank of Sauk Centre, Magnifi Financial Credit Union, Stearns History Museum, Sauk Centre Community Legacies, Sauk Centre Community Connection, the Sinclair Lewis Society and the Sinclair Lewis Foundation. Private donors include Pat Hanauer, Linda Simpkins and Dick and Pat Lewis. Sauk Centre Community Education is a co-sponsor of the event.
2026 Speakers
Keynote Marcie Rendon
One of her many successes was being listed as one of the top 30 Native American writers in the country by Oprah Magazine in 2020. She received Minnesota’s McKnight Distinguished Artist Award that same year. Rendon has also been recognized as a 50 over 50 Change-maker by MN AARP.
About her keynote talk, Writing Rural, Marcie said, “I will talk about my Cash Blackbear series and my novel, Where They Last Saw Her, as well as my soon-to-be released children's book. Each of these projects deal with rural life here in the Midwest from an Ojibwe perspective.
Marcie Rendon, an enrolled member of the White Earth Nation, is a best-selling author and an acclaimed playwright, poet, and freelance writer. As a community arts activist, Rendon supports other native artists / writers / creators to pursue their art, and is a speaker for colleges and community groups on Native issues, leadership and writing.
Marcie began her writing career in 1991 and has since produced a diverse body of work, including poetry, plays, and crime novels. She is particularly known for her popular crime series featuring Cash Blackbear, an Ojibwe woman who challenges traditional stereotypes of female protagonists. Broken Fields is the most recent novel in this series. Rendon is also the best-selling author of Where They Last Saw Her.
Marcie’s poetry, Anishinaabe Songs for the New Millennium, was released in 2024; and Stitches ofTradition, a picture book, Oct 2024.
In addition to her literary achievements, Rendon has been involved in community theater. She is the creative mind behind Raving Native Theater, Rendon has also curated community created performances such as Art Is… Creative Native Resilience, featuring three Anishinaabe performance artists, which premiered on Twin Cities Public Television in June 2019. Her plays, Say Their Names and Sweet Revenge are produced by Out of Hand Theater in Atlanta, Georgia, and Mni Giizhik Theater in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Payal Doshi
Payal Doshi is the author of Rea and the Blood of the Nectar, a middle grade fantasy novel and recipient of the IPPY Gold Award. Her young adult short story, A Confluence of Fates, can be found in the YA anthology, My Big, Fat, Desi Wedding. Her forthcoming four-book series of chapter books, Magic Gems, published by Scholastic Inc. will be available in 2026.
Payal has an MFA in Creative Writing (Fiction) from The New School, New York. When she isn’t writing, you can find her nose deep in a book with a cup of coffee or daydreaming of fantasy realms in which to send her characters.
Born and raised in Mumbai, India, she currently resides in Minneapolis with her husband and daughter. She loves writing stories that celebrate and champion her South Asian heritage.
Doshi says she enjoys writing in the young adult space because stories are allowed to dig deeper into big emotions and can explore a deeper understanding of love. However, she says she loves fantasy and writing for the middle grades.
For others considering taking a stab at their own writing project, she encourages them to start. “Write that draft. Each of our stories are important. If there’s something pushing you, compelling you to put a story down into words, the world needs to see it,” she says. “To anyone hesitating, wondering whether their story is interesting enough or important enough, the answer is a resounding, unequivocal, ‘Yes.’”
About her presentation, Payal said, “Every writer needs to build the world their novel is set in. But how does one create a setting in which the reader can escape into and become fully immersed? Whether you're a writer from an underrepresented cultural background or thinking about including a character/s from an ethnicity or cultural background different from your own, we will discuss strategies for weaving cultural details into the fabric of your story to enhance the plot, characters, and setting as well as go through some do's and don’ts to consider when including cultural representation.”
Peter Geye
Peter Geye is the award-winning author of six novels, including Safe from the Sea, The Lighthouse Road, Northernmost, The Ski Jumpers and Wintering, winner of the Minnesota Book Award. His most recent novel, A Lesser Light, is the first installment of an extended series of books about the early settlement of Minnesota and the Lake Superior region.
He received his MFA from the University of New Orleans and his PhD from Western Michigan University, where he was editor of Third Coast.
Geye was born and raised in Minneapolis, where he still lives with his family. For two decades he has taught writing at colleges and universities and The Loft Literary Center.
In his presentation, Peter will discuss some of the impediments writers face in getting started on their novel, and how to break through them. “We'll answer ten exciting questions designed to get you thinking about your fiction in simple ways that are likely to inspire new ideas while clearing some of the static that's prohibited you before now. Writers who join this gathering should have some idea about the novel or short story that they want to write.”
Douglas Wood
Douglas Wood has been called “Minnesota’s renaissance man.” Author, artist, musician, naturalist and wilderness guide, Doug is the creator of forty books for adults and children, with nearly three million copies in print.
His first book, Old Turtle, was hailed as a “profound work” and an “instant classic.” Translated widely, it has received many honors. Other award winners and N.Y. Times bestsellers include Grandad’s Prayers of the Earth, Miss Little’s Gift and his humorous WhatGrown-upsCan’t Do series.
His outdoor memoir, Deep Woods, Wild Waters, has been termed “a treasure,” in which “Wood has risen to the pantheon of the great nature writers.” His latest memoir, A Wild Path, winner of the Midwest Book Award, has been called “a masterpiece… vividly written and riveting.”
Among Doug’s many honors and awards have been the Christopher Medal, ABBY Award, International Reading Association Book of the Year, Minnesota Book Award, Midwest Publishers Association Book of the Year, Parent’s Choice Award, Smithsonian Notable Book Award, Barnes and Noble Star of the North, Story Telling World Award, and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Minnesota Association for Environmental Education.
As a professional musician and song-writer, Doug is a virtuoso performer “on 12-string guitar, mandolin, and banjo. He often performs his original “EarthSongs” with his WildSpirit Band, which took 1st Runner-up at the Minnesota Bluegrass Association “Race for a Place” championship.
In his books and music, frequent speaking engagements, and far-flung wilderness expeditions, Douglas Wood continues to explore the relationship between the natural world and the human spirit. Doug lives with his family in a log cabin in the pines by the Mississippi River.
About his presentation, “A Writer’s Path,” Doug said, “Every human being finds and follows their own path through life. The same is true of writers. Each of us must navigate the world--and the journey toward being or becoming a writer--in our own way, being true to the person, the voice, and the artist within us.” Join Doug as he will guide a discussion on how to:
Find/discover your own style and voice.
Learn the Three Secrets of being a writer.
When and how to edit, and when not to.
Use the magic of metaphor.
Discover the importance of mentors and where to find them.