My February in Tahoe literary highlights

This evening I wanted to make sure I didn't miss these literary events happening in February right here in our own little world of winter! 

The SNU Writers in the Woods reading series offers an incredible lineup of 3 writers this winter and the next reading is Feb 4th at 5 pm Pacific time in the land of Zoom. Gina Frangello is the author of four books of fiction, most recently A Life With Men, which is now under development as a series on Netflix. Her debut memoir, Blow Your House Down, was released in April 2021 to a blaze of rave reviews. Every Kind of Wanting was included by both Chicago Magazine and The Chicago Review of Books as one of the “Best Books of 2016.”

Gina will also be offering a workshop Saturday morning from 10-noon the morning after her reading. What I love about this series is that after an evening of immersing in the mind, sensibility, and language of a writer, I can then find inspiration in their unique teaching styles during these generative writing workshops. They are open to the public, free during Covid, and productive for any level of experienced writer.

The Sierra Writers Conference 2022 is Thursday, Friday, and Saturday Feb 10-12. The theme this year is Stories Matter: (Re) Imagining Past and Future and appropriately, 100% of the conference is online. Among many other workshops and discussions over these three days, here are the daily keynote presenters:

Thursday 5:30-6:30 p.m. | Keynote Address – Kirsten Casey
A Constellation of Words: Poetry and Beyond 

For those of you that visited Kirsten Casey and myself at our workshop table upstairs at the Raley's local artists event this summer, you'll remember how positive and inspiring she is as a writer and a teacher!

Friday 5:30-6:30 p.m. | Keynote Address – Nisi Shawl
Building Inclusive Fictional Histories 

Saturday 3:00-4:00 p.m. | Keynote Address – Kim Stanley Robinson
Writing a Good Anthropocene

I've just picked up Robinson's latest novel, The Ministry of the Future, to start reading before this address. I loved an earlier novel of his, Aurora. This newest novel was actually recommended reading for participants of the climate talks in Glasgow, Scotland. In Bloomberg this past October, 2021, in preparation for his speaking at the COP26, Robinson wrote:  

    The court jester often says things people need to hear, from angles no-one else would think of. Those     in power listen for amusement and crazy insight.This is one way of describing the role science fiction     performs in our culture. It hearkens back to the ancient prophets, famously disregarded in their own        country but listened to for a simple reason: they speak from the future. We’re always interested in the     future. It’s a distinctively human trait. 

So I hope to see you at some of these literary events, maybe in the chat, maybe in a tiny square on my screen, or even better, reach out to me or another writer and get together for a walk or ski to revive our collective creative energy : )

Karen