309 Festival Report #3

I went to two presentations by Lauren Winner, author of “Girl meets God,” an autobiography by a 24 year old Orthodox Jew who converted to Christianity. She was the only presenter (of the sessions I attended) who prayed publicly before her presentation, and despite her young age (I think she is under 30) was the only woman presenter (of the sessions I attended) who dressed like anyone would care about her appearance. She is now Anglican, so perhaps her modest appearance is from her Orthodox life. However, when she was paired with a rather bombastic male author, Stephen Bloom, author of “Postville,” and a former press secretary for a politician, she seemed to quietly disappear from the stage as he took over the discussion.

Notes for writers (of memoir): Your siblings will remember it differently. Notes about life: On balance, protecting family and friends outweighs historical accuracy--and don’t forget about the lawsuits.

James Calvin Schaap (pronounced SKOP) was chosen because I got lost and couldn’t find the presentation I had marked. (Lovely campus; horrible signage) What a wonderful serendipity. He is a professor of English at Dordt College in Iowa and explained how he used ideas from his career as a journalist to be fleshed out in his fiction. If you are homesick for Iowa (or any of those flatter Midwestern states) we were treated to a 12 minute CD of his photography called “Chasing the Dawn; a Meditation,” which I think is available through Dordt College Press.

Notes for writers: “Great stories are in your neighborhood--use experience and imagination.” Notes about life: He is currently writing a book about Laotian Christians, relocated in the USA. Working through a translator, he interviewed a Laotian woman about her job in an Iowa meat packing plant, a job he thought too terrible to even imagine. She told him she loved her job because, “In Thailand I had to butcher the entire cow.”

I went to two presentations by Laurie R. King who read an original midrash which she said will be part of a collection of stories--readable, but which will contain source material. She also appeared on a panel with two other mystery writers, Michael Malone and Terence Faherty. I almost never read mystery fiction--King's being the exception because of book club--but after listening to these three I just might start.

Note for readers: Readers go to mysteries to get the great novels of the 19th and 20th century. . . You can bring the world in. . .moral, social concerns. Note for writers: many mystery writers on the best seller list.

These three probably had the best advice for writer-wannabees of any of the authors I heard. Malone was the head writer for "One life to Live," a day-time soap, which is how he supported himself between books. Fans keep the memories alive. Faherty keeps two series going, the Owen Keene series about a failed seminarian and the Scott Elliott books, set in post WWII.

I also attended a presentation by James Ransome, the illustrator of children's books who visited Highland School here in Columbus a few weeks ago. Nathan Bierma, who appears on my blog roll gave a presentation on blogging which was well attended. My goodness, he is young!