Every year the conference sets a theme and a noted artist creates a commemorative poster for the event:

2012  Why Does Literature Matter?

2011  Can Literature Bring Us Together?

2010 What Can Words Do?

2009  Identity: Who Are We Now?

2008  Frontiers in a Changing World

2006  Shaping History

2005  Writing in Unpredictable Times

2004  Imagination and Its Limits

2003  Bearing Witness

2002  Does Truth Matter?

2001  The Search for Identity

2000  Alternative Worlds

1999  The Underlying Story

1998  Writers and Unexpected Outcomes

1997  Invention and the Writing Life

1996  Writers and Social Responsibility

1995  Writing with Conscience