Event runs July 6-13.

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After 40 years of tightening and tidying up the skills of writers who have attended the Maritime Writers' Workshop (MMW) it was time to put a fresh coat of paint on the workshops themselves. So participants of this year's MWW will be offered the latest technology and subject options relevant to skill sets for today's writer/potential writers.

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"I'm pleased to say that this year's workshop is reflective of the evolution of writing in New Brunswick literary sphere and elsewhere," said a proud Marie Maltais, director of UNB Art Centre College of Extended Learning. "In fact the emphasis on New Brunswick's emergence in this field is best highlighted by the fact our instructors, well published experts, are N.B. residents.

"The topics/techniques might have changed, but we will still deliver high calibre instructions to those seeking an intensive workshop experience."

Alison Howells, MWW spokesperson said all are welcome, no matter their experience.

"Beginners will feel at ease because it all takes place in a comfortable and inviting atmosphere that's conducive to developing/enhancing skills."

A bevy of subject options awaits this year's participants including full-day workshops on fiction writing, poetry/spoken word, travel writing, Internet and e-publishing. There are also workshops in documentary screen writing, literary translation, editing, cyberpunk and sci-fi.

Wait a second here, what in the world is cyberpunk? Highly skilled and much published course instructor Biff Mitchell explains.

"Cyberpunk deals with the consequences of rapidly changing technologies on society and the human condition through a story in which humans face those consequences. For this reason, your technology must be sound or your story won't."

Mitchell, after just completing his last workshop in a series on "Writing Hurts like Hell", stated that science fiction deals with the consequences of science on the human condition. "In fact the novel I'm working on now is cyberpunk space opera which blends science fiction and cyberpunk."

For additional information on instructors, workshops, registration details etc go to http://www.cel.unb.ca/pers_cult/writers/index.php or you can call Alison Howells at (506) 452-6360 (ahowells@unb.ca). It's also where you check if one-on-one consultations are available.

But it's not just the 2008 participants who are in for special treatment because there are going to be free daily readings for the public at large with the kick-off to this being a reading by well-known author Glenn Murray (Walter the Farting Dog) on Sunday, July 6 at 2 p.m. to be held in the Memorial Hall auditorium, 9 Bailey Dr.