Accelerated Freefall
By Kristen Roach Thompson, Associate Coordinator, Bluegrass Writers Studio
Three months have passed since eager BGWS participants gathered in Lexington, KY for our annual Winter Residency. We know what we’ve been up to – reading, writing, workshopping, discussing, revising, and freezing – but what about our esteemed guests from January?
Rigoberto González is one of 20 finalists for the Lambda Literary Awards, which celebrates the best LGBT books of 2013. The competition is in its 26th year and read more work than ever for this year’s awards. The Advocate has selections from all of the finalists here. Go Rigoberto!
Jan Beatty is trotting the globe, going from the Vermillion Poetry Festival in South Dakota to the international Women’s Conference in Barcelona, Spain. You can view a video of her braving the outdoors to read here, or wish her well in thawing out.
The Woodstock Writers Festival takes place in upstate New York this weekend, and Kelly Braffet will be part of a panel on the challenges of writing fiction. To read more about her local lit circles, check out this article.
Down south, Beth Ann Fennelly just read and discussed her poetry at the Oxford Conference for The Book on her home turf in Mississippi. You can read a review of her collaboration with husband Tom Franklin in their local press. Those of you writing with a southern lean should think about attending the conference and its fraternal twin the Southern Literary Festival next year. One weekend, two great events.
If you’re ready for some UV rays (just enough to make some Vitamin D, then on with your sunscreen!), read Alissa Nutting’s article just out in the New York Times.
Lauren Grodstein was just part of a panel on character, along with our friend Anthony De Sa from Disquiet International at the Tucson Festival of Books. Have a look at photos of the event.
Many BGWS participants are writing theses and critical introductions, and others are working on statements of aesthetic. For an on-topic, guilt-free diversion, read this Slate piece on self-interviews and click on Sam Lipsyte’s link for a laugh.
Maureen McHugh has been leading a genre fiction class for us this semester. Her class is in live workshop, online, as I write this, and we couldn’t be more honored. To get to know Maureen better, sneak a look at one of her former incarnations. We love them all.
Our chosen mentors gave us a great deal of things to aspire to when we began the year, and as we head into the home stretch of this semester, they are still inspiring. Take a deep breath and keep them in your sights.
Contact Information
Kristen Thompson
kristen.thompson@eku.edu
Published on April 02, 2014