SummerWords...a writers' feast in May/June

I’m delighted to announce that I’ll be a presenter at the SummerWords Writing Colloqium, where T.C. Boyle (pictured) will be the keynote speaker. There is an impressive roster of writers presenting and teaching at this event, held at the American River College May 30-June 2 in Sacramento, and I hope to see as many of the sessions as I can.

I’ll be teaching a workshop on historical fiction 11:30-12:45 on June 1 

called “Delving into the Past” (come prepared to wrestle an idea into 

submission and build a loose outline for a novel) and later that day 

from 1 to 2 I’ll be giving a Shop Talk where I’ll read a bit of my work 

and discuss it.

A few highlights at SummerWords to look out for:

* “An Evening with T.C. Boyle” on May 31

* The release of Michael Spurgeon’s novel Let the Water Hold Me 

Down (each attendee will be given a copy!) Michael and I both 

attended the same small college in Maine—Colby—and the same 

graduate program at UA Tucson. Now we both live in the greater 

Sacramento area. Uncanny coincidences, and it was wonderful to 

meet with him a few months ago and share anecdotes from these 

shared academic experiences, although we hadn’t known each other 

at the time. I’m a little…cough…older than him.

* An incredible, diverse array of poets and novelists and even a 

literary agent! Names that may ring a bell are Anthony Swofford, 

whose book Jarhead I used as a text when teaching Critical Thinking 

at Bay Area community colleges, his wife Christa Parravani whose 

memoir Her was just released this month and is receiving a lot of 

buzz, and Christian Kiefer, whose novel The Infinite Tides has also 

received a lot of attention. I’m excited to meet the other incredible 

sounding writers I see listed on the colloquium’s website.

It sounds like the attention will be on workshops for this sessions, 

so writers should definitely check it out. And for readers, there will 

be shop talks and plenty of opportunities to hear wonderful work.

Tickets are only $95 for four days of “panels, workshops, readings 

and talks with writers and poets of regional and national prestige.”

To learn more and purchase tickets, please visit http://www.arc.

losrios.edu/Programs_of_Study/English/SummerWords_

ARC_Writing_Colloquium.htm

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