wordstock

The folks at Wordstock recently asked me to put together my dream itinerary for the big Portland lit event. Today as I get ready to head down and catch whatever I can catch, I'm sure I won't be able to get to half of it, but here's what I'd get to if I could make every second of both weekend days count...

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My dream itinerary would run from opening to closing, be packed full of readings and panels and somehow still give me a chance to eat and browse along the booths. I’m going to pretend I have the magical powers to fit all of it in. Big loves are Pacific Northwest writers, small press writers, smart, voicy writers and good storytelling.

Saturday:

9:00—Lady in the House: Female Character Creation, with Rosebud Ben-Oni and Holly Berdorff of HERKIND

10:00—Poetry Book Publishers, including Joseph Bednarik, Cecelia Hagen, Sid Miller and Zachary Schomburg

11:00—Whitney Otto

12:00—A Songwriter, A Novelist and Some Poets Walk into a Bar, moderated by Cheryl Strayed and featuring Nicholson Baker, Dara Weir, Nick Jayna and Buddy Wakefield

1:00—Stevan Allred and Eliot Treichel—and if I could be in two places at once, also Mark Russell and Shannon Wheeler

2:00—BH James and Don Waters

3:00—Power of Print on Demand panel, moderated by Kevin Sampsell and featuring Jeremy Robert Johnson, Jarret Middleton, Cameron Pierce and Laura Stanfill

4:00—Stacy Bolt and Lauren Kessler

5:00—Bringing the Past to Life: Recreating a Place and Time panel, featuring Jamie Ford, Jerome Gold, Barbara Corrado Pope and Karen Shephard

6:30—The 9^th Live Wire! Radio Wordstock Extravaganza, featuring T.C. Boyle, Kevin Barry,  M.K. Asante, A.M. Homes, Ian Doescher and musical guests Tanya Donnelly and Michael Hearst 

Sunday:

9:00—How to Write Stunning Sentences workshop with Nina Schuyler

10:00—Poetry Chapbooks: Hows and Whys, with Judith Barrington, Lisa Ciccarello, Susan Denning, Trevino Brings Plenty and Ryan Scariano

11:00—The Short Story Vs. the Novel, featuring Tom Barbash, Alissa Nutting, Benjamin Percy and Leni Zumas

12:00—This one’s a tie. Between Karen Karbo’s Writing Bad and Chris and Kyle Bolton and Barry Deutch. (But remember, I have magical powers.)

1:00—Did I just mention the magical powers? I’m going to have to use them again so I can do three at once: Dangerous Memoirs (moderated by Adam O'Connor Rodriguez and featuring Ariel Gore, Scott Nadelson and Jay R Ponteri), Writing Guides: Help and on Your Journey (featuring Sage Cohen, Christi Krug and Laura Stanfill) and Monica Drake and Beth Lisick

2:00—In Your Own Backyard: The Northwest Novel, moderated by Penelope Bass and including Peter Donahue, James Bernard Frost, Michael H. Strelow and Tom Spanbauer

3:00—Karen Karbo

4:00—Exploring the Personal, with Stacy Bolt, Chasity Glass, Nicole Hardy and Scott M. Terry and moderated by Evan P. Schneider

5:00—Winners of the Sledgehammer Writing Contest, moderated by Monica Drake

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OK, now, what the heck have I forgotten?

If you're doing your last minute planning, there's more info here.