The Mississippi Writers Guild will hold its sixth annual writers' conference on Aug. 3 and 4 in Jackson. The guild, with the motto "No Writer without a Voice," was established in 2005 and is a charitable organization formed for the purpose of advancing and preserving the literary arts in Mississippi. The guild does this by strengthening the skills of Mississippi writers with workshops, conferences and retreats, and by providing outlets for Mississippi writers.

The annual conference provides the opportunity to have a formal critique of your writing as well as to present your material before a live audience if you wish.

Additionally, the conference will have a number of workshops and speakers throughout the two days. The speakers and workshop leaders are from Mississippi and outside the state and include Evan Guilford-Blake, C. Hope Clark, Chuck Galey and many others. The speakers and the workshops will provide a plethora of opportunities to learn new skills and to sharpen old ones. Topics covered run the gamut from how to improve your ability to speak to how to sell your writings to how to develop historical characters.

The conference will be held at the Arts Center of Mississippi (201 E. Pascagoula St.) and is open to the public. More details are available on the guild's website, http://www.mississippiwritersguild.com.