Tough Love at the CWA

CWA banner

Every year, a vibrant group of intellectuals, scientists, writers, artists, musicians, business folks, spiritual thinkers and more, heads to the campus of the University of Colorado in Boulder, to participate in the annual Conference on World Affairs. The CWA, which is held in springtime, was founded in 1948 by Howard Higman, a professor of sociology at CU, and features panel discussions about “Everything Conceivable.”

Individuals come from all over the world to discuss a wide range of relevant and interesting topics. A sample of this year’s topics includes titles such as, “Technology is a Fetish,” “What We Need in a President,” “March to the Beat of Your Own Drum,” “Can Books Still Change the World?” – and many more.

Sessions, which usually last about an hour and a half, include a vital question and answer format that is open to audience members after panelists have given presentations about the topic being discussed. This year, a new Q & A format was used in a variety of venues so audience members could send in their questions via cell phone texts.

I’ve been a CWA moderator for years. I’ve moderated panels on everything from Empathy to ETs. This year my panel was titled, “Tough Love for Aspiring Writers,” and my panelists included author and journalist, Bonnie Burton; photographer and publisher, Alexandra Huddleston; Investigative journalist and author Adam J. Schrager; and journalist and author, Ellen Sweets.

CWA TLFAW Panelists

As a writer, it was fun to listen to these panelists talk about their work and what mattered to them about their writing. They discussed key matters such as where their ideas come from, their writing processes, the importance of publishing contracts, writer’s block, and what they love about their work.

For more info, check out: CWA