Campus conference to focus on creative non-fiction
?Talking About Creative Non-Fiction,? a conference featuring noted authors and Skidmore scholars, is scheduled Thursday and Friday, Jan. 29 and 30, on the Skidmore campus.
The event will feature panel discussions and conversations about such aspects of creative
non-fiction as the relationship between fiction and creative non-fiction, the risks
involved in writing memoirs and personal essays, the differences between creative
non-fiction and journalism, and a discussion of great writers and their works. All
events are free and open to the public.
Participants will include authors whose names are familiar through their works as
well as their participation in such activities as the New York State Summer Writers
Institute at Skidmore. Guest writers who will attend are Russell
Banks, whose most recent non-fiction work is Dreaming Up America (2008, Seven Stories Press); Phillip Lopate, author of Two Marriages (2008, Other Press), among other works; Honor Moore, author of The Bishop?s Daughter: A Memoir (2008, W.W. Norton) and other works; Darryl Pinckney, who wrote a memoiristic novel
titled High Cotton (1993, Penguin) and Out There: Mavericks of Black Literature (2002, Basic Civitas Books); and Katha Pollitt, a regular columnist for The Nation magazine and author of a number of non-fiction books, including Learning to Drive: And Other Life Stories (2008, Random House).
Linda Hall, Susannah Mintz, Linda Simon, Daniel Swift, and Melora Wolff, all members
of Skidmore?s Department of English, will participate, as will Robert Boyers, professor
of English, who will moderate.
The conference begins with a panel discussion at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 29, in Gannett Auditorium, Palamountain Hall, featuring all the guest writers; and a series of discussions on Friday, Jan. 30, in the College?s Surrey Williamson Inn (on Broadway opposite the main entrance to Skidmore).
The following is a detailed schedule:
? 7 to 10 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 29, Gannett Auditorium, Palamountain Hall??Creative
Non-Fiction: The Writers and Their Works?A Reading and Conversation.? The five visiting writers?Banks, Lopate, Moore, Pinckney and Pollitt?will choose
a favorite essay (or selection) from their own writing, read a brief excerpt to the
audience, and respond to questions from the Skidmore professors.
On Friday, Jan. 30, all events will be in the Surrey Williamson Inn on Broadway,
opposite the main entrance to Skidmore. The schedule is as follows:
? 10:10 to 11:05 a.m.-?The Relationship Between Fiction and Creative Non-Fiction??A panel discussion built around three writers (Banks, Lopate, Pinckney) who have, in their work, negotiated the differing demands of those two genres.
? 11:15 a.m. to 1 p.m.-?What Are The Risks Involved in Writing Memoir and Personal Essays???A panel discussion featuring Banks, Lopate, Moore, Pinckney and Pollitt, moderated by Linda Simon.
? 2:30 to 4:15 p.m.-?The Difference Between Creative Non-Fiction and Journalism (or Literary and Cultural Criticism)??A panel discussion featuring Banks, Lopate, Moore, Pinckney and Pollitt, moderated by Linda Hall and Daniel Swift.
? 4:30 to 6:30 p.m.-?Great Works of Creative Non-Fiction??In this concluding session, each of the five visiting writers will read briefly from a favorite work of creative non-fiction by a classic or contemporary author and tell why they made their choice. The speakers will have an opportunity to engage with one another before responding to questions from the audience.
(Photos by Emma Dodge Hanson.)