From left, authors Robert Gwaltney, Clay McLeod Chapman and Jeffrey Dale Lofton on a panel at a previous Broadleaf Writers Conference. (All photos courtesy of Zachary Steele)
A decade ago, Atlanta author Zachary Steele felt there wasn’t a strong writing community in Atlanta. It’s no secret that writing can be lonesome work, so he decided to do something about it.
“Everybody starts something selfishly, to some degree,” joked Steele, who is now executive director and founder of the Broadleaf Writers Association. The Atlanta-based writers group offers local scribblers community, virtual meet-ups and workshops, as well as in-person conferences and events. “I was [looking] for a supportive writing community, and I felt like we didn’t have that — at least not the writing community I wanted to see and had experienced in other areas.”
Steele began researching and interviewing people with experience running nonprofits. After a lot of legwork, legal work, fundraising and establishing a board, he officially kicked off the Broadleaf Writers Association in 2015. The botanical name is a reference to Atlanta’s celebrated dense tree cover and ecological diversity. And, of course, a printed page is also called a “leaf.”
The nonprofit is celebrating 10 years at the 2025 Broadleaf Writers Conference, taking place September 20 and September 21 at the Decatur Public Library. The conference features writers, editors and agents participating in workshops, panels and conversations. Attendees can have their writing critiqued by published writers, as well as pitch completed works to literary agents.
The First Pages Critique, one of the conference’s signature offerings, allows attendees to submit an anonymous first page to be read by a panel of agents who offer constructive feedback. Some of the big names speaking this year include Kimberly Latrice Jones and Patti Callahan Henry, both New York Times bestselling authors.
Another author featured in these discussions will be local resident Jessie Latimer, who credits Broadleaf’s 2023 Conference with connecting her with her literary agent, Kristen Terrette of Martin Literary Management. Both will be in a discussion at this year’s conference. After meeting at Broadleaf, Terrette sold Latimer’s book Again Behold the Stars to Quill & Flame Publishers — the book will be out in the spring. There have been similar success stories in the past, including in 2019, when Kristine Rudolph participated in a First Pages Critique session and met agent Moe Ferrara. After the critique, Steele put the two in touch and, two days later, Rudolph signed as one of Ferrara’s clients.
Over the years, Steele has made no income from Broadleaf, instead staying focused on his original goal of building a writing community. From 2016 to 2018, he also branched out as a programming assistant at the Georgia Center for the Book, which hosted some of the earliest editions of the conference. “Between working with the Georgia Center for the Book and doing this, I really saw how deep [Atlanta and the state of Georgia are with] fantastic writers,” he said.
Steel is the author of four books himself, including Perfectly Normal, a coming-of-age novel about a 16-year-old living with undiagnosed autism and chromesthesia — or sound-to-color synesthesia — which came out this month. His love for the written word goes back to elementary school, where he first fell in love with the art of storytelling through childhood classics like E.B. White’s Charlotte’s Web and Judy Blume’s Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing. Steele says he was writing “really terrible short stories” all throughout childhood and adolescence.
“It’s something I’m passionate about,” he said. “I’ve been fortunate to have some books published and some praise from other writers. It was a dream to start the Broadleaf Writers Association to begin with. To see that double digit [depicting 10 years] for this conference is wild, and it begins to make me think [about] what it’s going to be like when it’s 20.”
Where & When
The 10th annual Broadleaf Writers Conference is at the Decatur Public Library September 20 and September 21. Ticket prices depend on sessions and packages.
215 Sycamore St., Decatur
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Jeff Dingler is an Atlanta-based author and entertainer. A graduate of Skidmore College with an MFA in creative writing from Hollins University, he’s written for New York Magazine, The Washington Post, The New York Times, Tiny Love, Newsweek, WIRED, Salmagundi and Flash Fiction Magazine. More information at jeffdingler.org.
