Summer Readings and Workshops
I'm attempting to arrange my jaunt to Washington, D.C., in June, which feels like corralling that herd of proverbial cats and seems to be turning into a "How Many Places Can We Visit in Three Days" family vacation. I haven't been to D.C. for 20 years, and I barely remember anything about the city except the pandas. And even though I will probably have to visit them again, the real reason I am going is not panda tourism but the fact that I won a fellowship from the Writers' Center in Bethesda and will be reading from Tracing Paradise and then teaching a follow-up workshop on what copying out literature can do for you. I have my doubts about whether anyone will sign up for a workshop that sounds so boring, but I assure you: copying out literature is far more engaging than it sounds, teaches you a great deal about craft, and is an excellent way to use writer's block productively. So don't be tricked by the idea of boringness: sign up for my workshop because Who Knows? I may never be in D.C. again. But I will certainly be in Franconia, New Hampshire, again. This will be my third summer at the Frost Place teaching conference, my second as associate director, and I'm still excited and I still love it and I still can't wait to go back. Don't forget that that the evening readings in Robert Frost's barn are free and open to the public and that after the readings we can sit together on Bob's front porch, drinking beer, slapping mosquitoes, and watching the bats fly above the darkening mountain range. Here's our schedule, and I'm told that all of the readings begin at 7:30 p.m.
June 27: Dawn Potter and Baron WormserJune 28: Leslea NewmanJune 29: Neil ShepardJune 30: Sharon Bryan and student participants
3 comments:
What's the etiquette, Dawn? I have a friend who's in a MFA program at George Mason University in Virginia (near by). Do I just send her the link to the things at the Writer's Center and tell her to tell her friends or should I send an email address as well?? or link to the blog? Or do we really want everyone to come on Thursday and for Friday to be cancelled? Let me know in comments and I will try to behave appropriately.
Send her the link and let her decide what she's interested in. I do get paid to teach the workshop, meaning that I can buy us dinner if people come to it . . . but if they don't, well, then we can eat hotdogs and sit on benches in the park. That's fun too.
I hope to come to at least one of the public poetry readings in Franconia. Hoping for better weather than last year!
Post a Comment