So, tomorrow morning marks the start of the very first Tucson Festival of Books!
Here is a link to maps and schedules, and here is the festival blog.
The UA Poetry Center has a list of their events.
The Pima County Public Library has a page about the festival.
There's an entry about it on the NewPages blog.
The Arizona Public Media page features video.
They even have a Facebook page.
And here's a clip about the festival on Youtube.
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Poetry readings by Alison Hawthorne Deming and Luci Tapahonso will be the first of the day. Former U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins will be giving a reading to close the day out.
I'm also really interested in a talk called "Fiction out of Friction: Evolution, Arabs and Other Controversial Topics," with Robin Brande and Laila Halaby. Unfortunately, it's at the same time as Prof. Deming's reading! I will happily choose to go see my former teacher, but I hope I'll have a chance to hear about the Halaby/Brande talk.
Also at the same time is a talk on "Public Speaking for Shy Writers" with Michael Charton. Too bad!
My next pick: Fenton Johnson, Beth Alvarado and Naomi Benaron will give a talk on "Shaping Truth in Memoir and Fiction."
It's at the same time as two other talks that sound interesting: "Life Worth Living, Inside Out: The Sufi and the Sage," with Albert Clayton Gaulden and Mansur Johnson..."Oral History and Community Story: The Foundation and Inspiration of Fiction Writing," with Patricia Preciado Martin.
Later on, I plan to attend this very nifty panel discussion, which is one of the events at the UA BookStore:
Jason Brown, Kevin Canty, Ander Monson & Manuel Munoz
"The Writing Life: Surviving & Publishing in Today's Market"
And then this one:
Aurelie Sheehan and Laura Fitzgerald
"Art or Craft? What Makes Fiction Work and Why?"
That means I'll miss a talk on "The Art of Eavesdropping," with Stephen Kuusisto. (We just did an exercise on dialogue and eavesdropping in the community college workshop I'm taking.) And a talk called "In the Driver's Seat: The Character-Driven Plot," with Elizabeth McKenzie, Alfredo Vea and Ann Cummins. And one called "We Cannot Look Away: Exploring a Social Conscience Through Writing," with Stella Pope Duarte...tempting.
Of course, this is a pretty ambitious schedule. And I'm giving up my precious "sleeping in" days, so hopefully all the literary excitement will keep my energy levels high. But seriously, what an incredible opportunity, right here in Tucson. Hooray!
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On Sunday, I plan to go see the
"KALACHAKRA" SAND MANDALA
Viewing & Dissolution Ceremony for the Wheel of Time, Sand Mandala with respected Buddhist scholar and former attendant to the Dalai Lama, Losang Samten.
More soon...
3 comments:
Ann Cummins was my professor! She's frickin' awesome. You should try to catch her, if possible.
Uh oh, really? Now it's harder to decide. I was just going to go to the Sheehan panel because she's the UA program director. I've never taken a class with her, though. The character-driven talk does sound great...I think you convinced me.
You won't regret it, I think. Ann is smart and funny and looks a little like Diane Wiest. She wrote me a letter of rec.
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