2009 Warren Wilson Program for Writers Alumni Conference
Those of you who have never attended a conference before, y�all come! We�ve been through the same Wally fire that you have. Grad Susan Methvin would say, We are our own tribe. And honestly, after every conference, we see the same first-timers� testimonials: �I was nervous�but it was great!� So come. We will welcome you.
Nowhere else on earth have I found such camaraderie, perhaps because I am mostly shy, but really I think it is because we know exactly what each of the others has accomplished in order to be alums of WW and that puts us on common footing. We are peers from the get-go even if we've never met before. I thought I had enough friends, and who needed more? but each of the conferences I've attended, three so far, have yielded lovely and lasting friendships, people with whom to share work, ideas, semi-awful food, and other more potent struggles. I've used each of the conferences in a different way: one to hole up and get some work done, one to concentrate on manuscript reviews, my own and others, and one to snatch my writing life from the jaws of defeat. There is no other week in my life when I've laughed so much as at the Wally Conference. [Tracy Winn, fiction 2002, Massachusetts and New Hampshire]
Why spend money and time on this conference?
We are post-mfa writing peers. No other program fosters a gathering exclusively for its grads. The conference could be mistaken for a Warren Wilson residency, but there are no faculty, no deadlines, no jitters over mentor assignments, and the food is decent. It is remarkably intense and fun. Once in the middle of the outdoors dance we were visited by a dancing� family of naked pond people. On more than one occasion we have been visited by a white-gowned Emily Dickinson.
Some of us come to attend classes and workshops (which we run and lead); others use the time to write all day, emerging only for meals and the evening readings; others who may live in rural or other isolation spend the time gadding about and talking, soaking up the company of writers. Most of us do some of each. Usually forty to sixty of us attend and we range from some of the earliest to the most recent grads and everyone in between.
The conference has been held for about twenty years and is run by a volunteer coordinator and a committee. Our location rotates during a five year cycle. Every fifth year we are on the WW campus in Swannanoa, so the end of our conference overlaps with the program�s five year anniversary festivities (next anniversary: 2011). Usually three out of the five years we will be at Mt. Holyoke. One out of the five years, we have tried locations in the west or midwest and would consider Canada, but these western or northern conferences only happen when someone or a committee of someones volunteers to do the ground work.
Mt. Holyoke is a beautiful old campus (bricks and ivy, as well as modern facilities including a pool and perhaps the ghost of Miss Emily Dickinson who went to school on this campus when it was the Litchfield Academy). The food is not bad, always offering a veggie option and a salad bar. A moment's walk away is South Hadley center, with an independent bookshop, a coffee shop, and a homemade sandwich/newspaper shop, Northern New Mexican food, two taverns�ideal for free-form, casual gatherings. Emily's Dickinson's home and the Yiddish Book Center are a stone's throw away. Nearby Amherst and Northampton both offer excellent shops, lunch spots, etc.
We will have classes, panel discussions, and caucuses. Please think about teaching or leading one yourself. What was that class you always wanted to take? Who�s that writer you�re always wanting to tell people about? What would you like to say about that article (maybe the one about David Foster Wallace) in the New Yorker or elsewhere? Here�s your chance to give a class for a knowledgeable, committed audience. Here is a sample of the dozen classes and discussions offered at last year�s conference:
Reading of the Souls: In Memoriam
Reading in the names of twelve Goddard/Warren Wilson alums� who have died since the program began: Sandy Ballard, Gina Brandt, Ali Dor-Ner, Linda Dyer, Kitty Hamilton, Sarah Lantz, Sue Lipsiner-Versenyi, Susan Methvin, Beth Stahlecker, Renate Wood, Marjorie Woodbury, and Michele Wyrbek .
Class: The Glosa: Engagement or Injury - presented Alex Pierce and Babo Kamel
The Glosa, a poetic form originating in medieval Spain, relies on a preexisting poem for its source of inspiration
Panel: Texture: exploratory panel with open discussion - presented by J. C. Todd, Erin Stalcup, Robin Black
Embedded texture works through layered images, point of view, voice and more.
Class: Thirteen Ways of Looking at Grant and Fellowship Applications - presented by Martha Carlson-Bradley
Successful grant applicant Carlson-Bradley offers thirteen tips and other advice
Class: Raymond Carver and the Lish Edits - presented by Michael DiLeo
Examining� the role of the fiction editor and the� question of� sole authorship, we can wonder� which is better.
Panel: The Sofa Argued with the Drapes, the Linoleum Sang to Them: Assembling a Collection of Poems or Stories - presented by Tracy Winn, Patrick Donnelly, Robin Black, Terri Ford
A great collection of stories or poems is not just a collection of great stories or poems.
DANCE, DANCE, DANCE: We still know how to burn down the dance floor house!
Where else could you be totally relaxed in the company of fabulous, hardworking writers who outdo each other in dazzling you every night with their readings and oil the little engine in your head with classes on writerly topics you may not have known you needed to contemplate. Not to mention the running conversations with old and newfound friends in the bathroom, the rain, the dining room, the flower garden, and slung across the bed. And let's not forget the dancing. [Lee Sharkey, poetry 1991, Maine]
There will be workshops � fiction, poetry, and mixed as interest dictates. Likewise, for full-stayers, a Manuscript Review for poets and Fiction Roundtable for fiction or memoir writers. These last two are designed to look at longer manuscripts or collections, be they works in progress or nearing completion. You�ll be in touch with your group and share your work by mid-June.
The nightly readings when we come together as a community are the real treasure of the conference. Please plan to give a ten minute reading. If you do read, you are committing to attend all readings, no exceptions for visiting family or outside business, or .... You can�t find a better, more focused and supportive audience anywhere and the work is always phenomenal.
Not interested in a workshop? Don�t know about classes? No problem. Sleep, write, sun, swim, bird watch with actual Texans. You will be asked to volunteer for a short-term community service slot� and we hope everyone will attend our annual Alumni Meeting, but otherwise your time is your own.
We will hold a silent auction to raise funds for FOW. Think about artwork you might bring or send, craft work, jewelry, books, 20th Century Art Deco purses, etc. An added enticement: last year a couple of faculty offered for auction personal manuscript or packet reviews
I've been to about six alumni conferences, and each has been better than the last. I had no idea how powerful a peer-led conference could be. It was - is -� tremendous to meet alums from other years! The classes are not only stimulating, they engage us where we are in both our lives and our work. And the readings! They are thrilling to hear and thrilling to give: you will never have a better audience. I am reminded over and over of the true value of our community and the privilege of being part of it.[Mari Coates, fiction 1995, California, former conference coordinator]