I know I've posted about Wordstock already but it bears repeating now that it's Thursday and Wordstock proper is this weekend. I've figured out my short list of writers and writer panels I want to see and now I'm really getting excited. There's a lot of overlap -- how could there not be with eight stages? -- but I'm sure that I'll be able to catch a lot of great readings this year.
Beyond readings I'm looking forward to working the Hawthorne Books booth from 1-4pm on Saturday and 9-noon on Sunday. It's pretty wild for me to think of what I was up to last year at Wordstock -- I'd just wrapped up a summer internship with Hawthorne and at Wordstock I got to meet my possibly/maybe book publisher for the first time (we had a loose spoken agreement at that point but the contract wasn't signed until January). Shuttle ahead to this year's Wordstock and I've delivered my first to-be-published manuscript to Sasquatch Books and I'm working as an editor for Hawthorne Books. Not too shabby!
Be a literary omnivore.
All of that is just another way of saying Wordstock can bring good fortune to you as well. If you stop by this weekend and spare a mere $5 for an all-day-pass you might just shake hands with your future publisher or brush shoulders with a writer, or two or three that you love. At Wordstock you'll be surrounded by books and the people that make books happen -- readers, writers, publishers and editors.
If you haven't seen the amazing Wordstock promo. at the downtown Powell's (it's worth checking out -- just off the main entrance) I'll give you the gist:
Drop everything and go to Wordstock.
Oh and this year Wordstock is homing in on food -- hence this year's theme:
Be a literary omnivore.
If you want to read more about the food writing side of this year's Wordstock go here.
Wordstock Sat., Oct. 10th and Sun., Oct. 11th 10am-6pm at the Oregon Convention Center 777 NE MLK Jr. Blvd. www.wordstockfestival.com