Illustration by Aron Rook.
A writer’s life can be one of solitary contemplation and frustration. So, every once in awhile, writers must push away from their computers and meet their own kind—those who can relate to and understand the writing life.
That’s where writing conferences come in, and one such upcoming event is called HippoCamp 2015, where both professional and aspiring authors will be able to meet and greet kindred spirits. It will take place next month at the Lancaster County Convention Center.
Donna Talarico, a northeast Pennsylvania native who now lives in Lancaster, publishes Hippocampus Magazine, an online journal of creative nonfiction and memoir. She is also the organizer of this conference, where, she believes, writers and readers of creative nonfiction and memoir will be inspired.
The decision to place the conference in Lancaster was an easy one for Talarico. Sure, she calls Lancaster home, but she also believed that the centrally located city would attract people from Lancaster, Harrisburg, York and Hershey and outside of the area, as well, along with those affiliated with the many colleges and universities in central Pennsylvania.
“I could have selected another region or city for the conference, but I knew that I wanted to attract writers to our region for a few reasons,” Talarico said. “So many major conferences are in the big cities, but there is something special about the mid-size cities and towns, too, and I wanted to share what central PA has to offer.”
Talarico envisions attendees perhaps taking an extra day or two and checking out the museums, parks and other attractions between Lancaster and Harrisburg.
“There are a lot of creative folks in our region, and the literary scene is growing,” she said. “We’re an online magazine, so we don’t technically have a location. So, this is a way to show that we’re part of this community.”
Up to this point, Talarico has been proud of the fact that Hippocampus Magazine found success on the “virtual” stage as an online publication that has used social media and email to send out its message. A conference such as this adds another dimension outside of the computer screen.
“Rather than fitting stories into places, we’re fitting people and events into spaces,” she said.
The conference’s programming ranges widely and includes panels, workshops and 45-minute breakout sessions. Attendees can enjoy evening author readings Friday night, hear first-time authors share their stories about their first published piece as part of a panel on Saturday morning, discover how to be better out-loud readers of their work on Saturday afternoon, and hear keynote speaker and creative nonfiction guru Lee Gutkind that evening.
After some coffee and pastries Sunday morning, there will be more writing panels and then a closing keynote address by Jane Friedman, former publisher and editorial director of Writer’s Digest.
“I’m personally excited for Jane Friedman’s ‘Beyond the Book’ talk because there’s so much more to being a successful writer today,” Talarico said. “I’m also looking forward to the literary citizenship panel. Still relatively new to the midstate, I’m still finding my way around its literary landscape.”
While the sessions and panels are mostly geared toward creative nonfiction, writers in other genres will be able to take away techniques and ideas for their own work, especially in the areas of marketing/publishing and that work-life balance that most, if not all, writers deal with. Some topics have even broader appeal and go beyond the genre: podcasting, online marketing, setting, writer’s block and a writing and movement workshop.
“Also, the literary citizenship panel will apply to all genres,” Talarico said. “In fact, its panelists are mostly cross-genre.”
While HippoCamp is Talarico’s first time organizing a conference, it helped that she’d attended others in the past. That prepared her for the small details and budget concerns when it came to organizing her own.
“My rep at the Marriott told me over a recent lunch meeting that I’m asking questions most don’t think about,” she said. “But asking the right questions is one thing. It’s the pulling it off that’s the challenge.”
HippoCamp 2015 takes place Aug. 7 to 9 in the Lancaster County Convention Center in Lancaster. To register and for more information, log onto www.hippocampusmagazine.com and click “Conference: HippoCamp2015.”
