Learn to write well, or not to write at all.
—John Sheffield

It is impossible to discourage the real writers — they don't give a damn what you say, they're going to write.
—Sinclair Lewis

Sinclair Lewis, the first American to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, was a mentor to many aspiring writers during his career. Frederick Manfred was a young writer when Lewis invited him to his home in Duluth to review Manfred's manuscripts.

Manfred, the first keynote speaker at the first Sinclair Lewis Writers Conference in 1990, recalled Lewis's help with his writing. His message reflected Lewis's mentoring legacy — to help writers nurture their craft.

That has been the mission of the Sinclair Lewis Writers Conferences since the beginning: to help writers hone their skills by rubbing shoulders with the best of Minnesota's professional writers. As at any gathering of writers, stories and literary discussions abound.

Read the rest of The Loft Literary Center's article here.