Carson McCullers Literary Festival

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to attend the Carson McCullers Literary Festival. If you don’t know who Carson McCullers was, read about her here.

In short, Carson was an author from my hometown and my university has a literary festival every year. This year was the first year I’ve gotten to attend because I was in England last year and in a musical the year before that.

Can I just say…it was amazing?

One thing that made it amazing was the speakers. CSU was able to sign Joy Harjo to speak…before she was named Poet Laureate. So we got to hear the Poet Laureate speak at a free event. Wow.

I missed Joy’s reading and book signing on Friday evening, but I was able to attend a MasterClass with author Melissa Pritchard, a Q and A with Joy Harjo, and a reading by Melissa Pritchard and poet Sandra Meek.

I feel so refreshed and encouraged, and a little bit guilty. I haven’t been treating my current novel projects as seriously as I would like, and I’ve almost been avoiding my projects. (I still don’t know exactly why, but part of it is fear and part of it is schoolwork.)

So here are some takeaways from my notes:

• Voice – I don’t remember whether this was Melissa Pritchard or Joy Harjo, but whoever it was was talking about voice as it relates to style, and then transitioned to talking about how quickly we as humans forget someone’s voice after they die. I tried to remember both of my grandfathers’ voices, and I found it was really difficult. But now I want to write a piece about their voices.
• Paradoxes – Melissa Pritchard talked about how writing requires the ability to balance many different concepts, some of which may seem like complete opposites. You must be disciplined to be a writer, but you also must have spontaneity to not get tied down to one certain idea. You must have intuition for certain areas of writing, but in other areas you need to use precision. You must know the tools of craft, but you have to be willing to take risks and be emotionally vulnerable on the page.
• Quotes – Melissa recommended reading for quotes because she said that “quotes will keep you inspired.” She also compared them to friends in a profession that can become lonely.
• Prioritizing Projects – This is something I think everyone struggles with. Melissa’s advice that she gives to students comes in the form of a question: “If you were given one year to live, what novel would you write during that time?”
• Stay Informed – Keep yourself informed about the market. What is selling? Who are the big authors in your genre? Also stay up-to-date on literary awards, the winners of those awards, and even the runners-up.

The most interesting thing Melissa said is something I’m not quite sure if I agree with. She said, “Don’t tell people that you’re a writer, and don’t talk about what you’re writing.”

She did follow that up and say that it is good to have support, and a writer community, so I think her main point was something along the lines of Jesus’s “do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing” command on giving.

I really enjoyed Melissa Pritchard’s reading – she’s writing a novel about Florence Nightengale – but Sandra Meek was a little much for me. Her poetry was all about animals and how they’ve been affected by humans. Yes, it made me feel sorry for the Judas goats researchers used on Isabella Island. Yes, I now know that there is a parasite that eats the tongue of its host turtle and somehow grows it back. But I just don’t like free verse poetry that much (even though I’ve written some).

Joy Harjo’s masterclass was more of a Q and A, but there was still some good advice she had.

• Read other genres – She recommended reading similar genres while writing, but also reading outside the genre you’re currently writing in.
• Habits – She emphasized writing habits, but also acknowledged that life can be busy sometimes. She said (and this is almost word for word): “Homemaking is one of the last respected jobs, and it is just as hard to find time to write as is is when you have a job in insurance.” That made my respect for her go up by about 100%.

So, there you have it. Those were my biggest takeaways from the festival.

I also got to attend the awards ceremony that is part of the festival. This ceremony awards CSU students and local high school students for their literary work. One of my sister’s friends won three awards for her work, which is pretty impressive. (Also, the pool of submissions is kind of small, but still, that’s a big feat.)

I did submit pieces for the awards last year, but I think the things that I write aren’t what win awards. That’s not to say what I write is bad quality, it just isn’t stuff that college students normally read. I was going to submit this year, but I wasn’t happy with anything I wrote during the semester. I’m a bit hesitant to submit this coming year, but we’ll see what happens.

Keep writing!