"UNT's Mayborn Conference, which has a growing national reputation and quickly is becoming one of the best conferences for writers of literary nonfiction, is a shining example of UNT's dedication to providing relevant educational opportunities to our broader community and to our students," President Gretchen M. Bataille said. "With N. Scott Momaday, our nation's best-known Native American writer and recipient of the 1969 Pulitzer Prize -- the first recognition of Native American Literature -- as our keynote speaker, this year's attendees will have a wonderful opportunity to refine their craft, find inspiration and explore the breadth of culture and points of view found in literature."

Joining Momaday, the current poet laureate of Oklahoma, is literary journalist and National Book Award winner Bob Shacochis; Candice Millard, former editor and writer at National Geographic and "River of Doubt" author; Ali Wolfe, the daughter of Tom Wolfe and a literary journalist for Conde Nast Portfolio magazine; and some of the nation's leading writers, editors, literary agents and book publishers.

The conference will take place July 18-20 (Friday-Sunday) at the Hilton DFW Lakes Executive Conference Center, 1800 Highway 26 East, in Grapevine, Texas (Five minutes from Dallas/Fort Worth Airport).

"Momaday is a master in the great oral tradition of storytelling," said George Getschow, conference writer-in-residence. Celebrated for his poetry, fiction and non-fiction, Momaday "brought Native American literature into the mainstream," Getschow said.

"He can teach writers how to make their nonfiction prose more lyrical and how the use of poetic language can breathe life into landscape and place," he said.     

Registration has begun for the conference, which is geared toward aspiring literary nonfiction writers, established authors and journalists, and book lovers. Early registration ends March 15 (Saturday).

The conference also offers undiscovered literary nonfiction writers the chance to compete for cash prizes and recognition within the publishing world. The conference is offering a $3,000 cash award for the first prize winner in the manuscript competition, along with a publishing option with UNT Press. The conference is also awarding $12,000 in cash prizes in two categories – $6,000 for the best research- and reporting-based narratives and another $6,000 to the best essays. The 10 best nonfiction narratives and essays selected by jurists will be published in the second edition of "Ten Spurs," the Mayborn's literary journal jointly published by Hearst Newspapers and the Mayborn Graduate School of Journalism.

The deadline for submitting entries is June 13 (Friday).

Writers of the top 20 manuscripts and the top 50 articles and essays will be selected to participate in writing workshops with some of the nation's top writers. In addition to the workshop sessions, the conference features lectures, readings and roundtable discussions.

The writing competition has allowed undiscovered writers to become established. Julianne McCullagh, the 2007 essay winner, has gone from writing for her church bulletin to leading a pre-conference writer's workshop since she attended her first Mayborn Conference three years ago.

"We're turning craftsmen into writers," Getschow said. "We're creating a new generation of writers who will sustain narrative nonfiction for generations to come."

Other speakers at the conference include sports writer Wright Thompson of ESPN.com, writer Nick Heil of Outside magazine, roving narrative reporter John Burnett of NPR, book reviewer Cathleen Medwick of O, The Oprah Magazine and nonfiction book editor David Patterson of Henry Holt & Co. Ken Wells, author of "The Good Pirates," a new literary nonfiction book about the survivors of Hurricane Katrina, and Tim Madigan, author of a true crime series currently running in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, are also speaking at the conference.  

The Mayborn Conference has garnered plenty of praise and publicity in its first three years. Past speakers have included three-time Nobel Prize nominee Joyce Carol Oates, new journalism pioneer Gay Talese and celebrated literary nonfiction writer Hampton Sides. At last year's conference, speaker Nan A. Talese, publisher of James Frey's memoir, "A Million Little Pieces," made headlines across the country when she took exception with Oprah Winfrey's criticism of Frey's verisimilitude.

Sides said: "It's no accident that the Mayborn Conference has very quickly risen to preeminence among the nation's literary conferences. Stacked with talent, smartly choreographed, and well-attended by enthusiastic confreres whose passion for non-fiction is palpable, the Mayborn offers a distinctive format no other conference can match."

Mayborn Conference registration is $275 for the general public before March 15 and $295 after that date. Students may register for $200 before March 15 and $225 after that date. Educators may attend for $250 if they register before March 15 and $270 afterward. Conference seating is limited.

Conference participants submitting an article or essay in the writing contest will pay an additional $30 fee. Conference participants in the manuscript contest pay an additional $60 fee.

Conference attendees can also sign up for 15-minute private consultations with literary agents during "Close Encounters of the Literary Kind." The cost is $50.

To register, visit www.TheMayborn.unt.edu. For more information, call (940) 565-4564.

What: The 4th Annual University of North Texas Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Writers Conference of the Southwest features keynote speakers N. Scott Momaday, Bob Shacochis and Candice Millard. The conference is also a chance for undiscovered literary nonfiction writers to gain notice. Writers will compete for seven cash prizes totaling $15,000.

When: Conference workshops for writers of selected entries will begin at 9 a.m. July 18 (Friday). The conference continues with lectures, readings, panel discussions and question-and-answer sessions through July 20 (Sunday). Deadline for entries is June 13 (Friday).

Where: Hilton DFW Lakes Executive Conference Center in Grapevine.

Cost: Conference registration is $275 for the general public before March 15 and $295 after that date. Students may register for $200 before March 15 and $225 after that date. Educators may attend for $250 if they register before March 15 and $270 afterward. Conference seating is limited.

Contact: Tickets to Bob Shacochis dinner and lecture at 5:30 p.m. July 18 (Friday) are $65 (if not registered for the conference).

Tickets to Literary Lights Dinner and lecture with N. Scott Momaday at 6:15 p.m. July 19 (Saturday) are $100 (if not registered for the conference) or $1,500 for a table.

Visit www.TheMayborn.unt.edu to register or call (940) 565-4564.