The annual Highlands Writers Conference (HWC) organized by Georgia Highlands College (GHC) faculty and staff makes a virtual return this year. The event takes place on Feb. 27 and is free and open to the public.

Anyone interested in joining should register early. There is no deadline for registration, but each workshop will only hold 20 participants at a time.

Visit hwc.highlands.edu to register for the free event and even receive a free HWC shirt by mail.

“The HWC is unique in that it offers very close encounters with nationally recognized professional writers across a wide range of genres,” Division Chair for School of Humanities Jessica Lindberg said. “Attendees of the HWC speak highly of how down-to-earth our conference is and how casual and open it is to all levels of writers. We hope all attendees will feel encouraged to keep working on their dream projects and even start new ones after hanging out with our authors.”

Writers to be featured at this year’s conference include Kelly DeLong, Clark Atlanta University instructor and author of the novel “The Poor Sucker” and the non-fiction book “The Freshman Year at an HBCU.” In addition, the event will feature Brian Oliu and Jason McCall.

“Brian Oliu and Jason McCall write in many different forms and across a wide range of subjects, including basketball, wrestling, video games and donuts,” Lindberg said. “We are excited to hear what tips they can provide on writing for a very contemporary audience on untraditional subjects. We are also very excited to host one of our own writers, Mackleen Desravines. Mackleen’s 2018 directorial debut, the movie ‘Smoke,’ is currently streaming on Amazon Prime.”

Student group Brother 2 Brother will host the workshop by McCall, while the Student Engagement Office is sponsoring the conference. The Creative Writing Club will also participate.