Our conference is in full swing. Day One was, as usual, organized chaos: welcoming newcomers, greeting returnees and old friends, handing out packets and name tags, steering people to the correct rooms at the right time. The weather was rather perfect, warmish-to-hot for us, yet a welcome relief to those coming from Texas (hotter than a pistol) or the East Coast (muggy as hell). After Orientation (first for the entire conference, then for each workshop), and then a pouring of notable Napa Valley wines to accompany a very delicious Mediterranean-inspired meal on the verandah, we gathered our chairs to sit on the lawn under the slowly deepening sky to listen as both Carl Dennis and ZZ Packer gave bang-up readings, the Mayacamas mountains a purpling backdrop behind them.
It doesn't get much better than that.
But ... there's more, like about four more days worth.
To be continued.
You're there with Dan Chaon?
ReplyDeleteJeallllloooouuuussss.
Oh, I'd be jealous of my own self, too, if that were the case. But he's not here this year. He was scheduled for last year (or the year before?) but had to cancel. We might be able to bring him in sometime in the future.
ReplyDeleteHowever, this time: Robert Boswell, Peter Ho Davies, Antonya Nelson and ZZ Packer. So we're pretty well set.
Count me as another jealous reader of your blog. I hope it went well!
ReplyDeleteIt really did. One of the best, I think. Great readings, great workshops, great lectures. Will try to post more about it...right now in recovery mode: family, friends, and a suitcase of laundry. But I did, as Ron Carlson once suggested at the end of a conference, make a writing date with myself to work on my stories while all the new info and inspiration is still rattling around my mind. And that date starts now!
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