During UNCW’s Writers Week, creative writing students fought for seats, slugged against walls, shared chairs and hovered by the doors of Kenan Hall’s lecture room, where they attentively scribbled notes at the panel entitled “Life After the BFA/MFA.”

In the ever-changing market of book publishing, students are concerned about their next step after receiving their degree. However, they, along with the general public, found possibilities at Writers Week, an annual UNCW writing festival curated by the creative writing department.

Writers Week made its 13th appearance this year, having been started in spring of 2001 by Mark Cox, a UNCW creative writing professor and former department chair. Today, Cox’s creation is a much-loved yearly event.

“It’s something to look forward to each year,” Cox said.

He and his co-faculty members have made improvements since Writers Week’s 2001 establishment. For instance, every year they designate a different focus or theme, like this year’s “The Digital Age.”

Writers Week 2012 featured several digitally innovative panels like “Professional Issues for Students in the Digital Age” and “Indie Publishing in the Digital Age,” which focused on the development of tablets such as the Kindle and the growing presence of “e-books,” along with how these new concepts affect non-digital book arts.

“Our job is to recognize where we are not fully able to help students with careers and think more about ways to broaden our perspective,” Cox said.

He appreciates the opportunity to give UNCW’s creative writing students a chance to understand the evolving publishing market through Writers Week events.

Current creative writing department chair Philip Gerard thinks the digitally evolving market is invigorating for both students and writers.

“It has opened up access to all writers,” Gerard said. “No one’s really sure how it’ll turn out, but it’s all kind of exciting.”

Cox tried to invite guest writers or speakers who have experience with online journals or blogs and are, therefore, at the forefront of online writing.

This year’s keynote speaker, Bill Roorbach, award-winning author of both fiction and non-fiction, co-authors a blog and website called Bill and Dave’s Cocktail Hour along with UNCW’s David Gessner, an associate creative writing professor.

Roorbach posted a picture of his non-fiction craft presentation audience on the blog this week.

Other guest writers who held craft presentations included Brian Evenson and Salvatore Scibona for fiction, J. Allyn Rosser for poetry and Jen Bervin for poetry and book arts. Rosser, an award-winning poet and Ohio University professor, especially enjoyed working with UNCW’s creative writing department.

“Your program has developed a congenial environment and a truly interesting group of writers,” Rosser said.

During the week’s events, Rosser held a reading with non-fiction expert Cassandra Kircher, who was also impressed with UNCW’s program.

“UNCW’s Writers Week is impressive,” Kircher said. “Students are lucky to see so many different writers and editors talking about so many different topics in such a short time span.”

For many students and faculty, Kircher explained the most important aspect of Writers Week-perspective.

“It’s such a concentrated and intensive week,” Cox said. “It’s inundated with so many different perspectives.” He calls it immersion education.

UNCW offers an undergraduate and graduate combination course solely centered on Writers Week. Brenda Nicholas, a candidate in poetry in the MFA program and student in the Writers Week class, worked as Cox’s assistant coordinator. Nicholas was responsible for most of the behind-the-scenes action of the week.

“I’m so grateful to serve as a coordinator,” Nicholas said. “It has reinvigorated my love for writing.”

And students weren’t the only ones reaping the benefits from Writers Week-it was free to the public. Christine Moughamian, a three-time attendee and local writer, loves that she can enjoy the luxury of a writer’s conference right here in Wilmington.

“I like how well organized it is and how approachable the authors always are, even those writers with impressive credentials,” Moughamian said.

As a free conference, Writers Week has established a unique sense of community for Wilmington writers.

“We’ve noticed people here every year who we wouldn’t really see at any other time,” said Lavonne Adams, creative writing lecturer and MFA coordinator.

Faculty like Adams, Gerard and Cox  benefit not only as writers themselves, but as professors too.

“It’s really for a selfish reason when we bring in writers,” Gerard said. “We get to talk about ideas and steal ideas from the writers, and they don’t mind having them stolen.”

This is further proof that the UNCW creative writing department benefits from Writers Week in many different ways but also gives back to the community.

“Every writer that comes through that door is on his or her way somewhere else,” Cox said.