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 9th 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.