| Author |
Comment |
Heidi
Unregistered
(6/19/00 7:10:35 am)
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Conference Report, Please!
Hello all,
It feels wonderful to have the board back, especially without any extra effort on my part. I had been trying to figure out which board to adopt so we could have one again. Thank you, Christine, for sparing me the work. I just returned from several weeks of traipsing around the country and my summer journeys are far from over. My husband accepted a job in LA while I was in LA for totally unrelated reasons. We are moving over the next several weeks, so my visits may be sporadic. My site is not dying although it will be neglected for another month or so. Fortunately, this is the slow time of year for it anyway. I have many more pictures and text to add, but I imagine they will not be ready until mid-August.
Anyway, each day recently has been filled with a week's worth of activity, but I am still eager to hear about Wiscon as long ago as it may seem now. How did the panel on shamanism go? Any other great news?
I have been slowly catching up on my reading stack, such as reading Patricia McKillip books I have never touched before. The Innamorati kept traveling with me, but I bought it in hardback which made it harder to slip into a small handbag. I will read it soon, but everyone has raved about it so much I want to be able to savor it. Anyone wanting to discuss McKinley's "Spindle's End" or McKillip books may feel free to start a discussion above, too. I read "The Book of Atrix Wolfe" and "Winter Rose" on my plane trips. I am in the first third of Song for the Basilisk. (I told you I haven't read McKillip in a while!)
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Terri
Unregistered
(6/20/00 1:11:05 am)
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Wiscon
report
Heidi: Wiscon was a lot of fun;
I only wish you, Carolyn, Carrie and some of the others on this
board could have been there too. (Next year perhaps?)
The panel discussion on shamanism seemed to go well -- but it's
now been several nusy weeks since the conference, and I can barely
remember what the heck we talked about...pathetic, isn't it? (Midori,
Ellen, help. What *did* we talk about?) The line-up for the panel
changed a few times, but in the end it was me, Midori, Ellen Steiber,
Heinz Insu Fenkl, and Charles de Lint...all friends, all people
with roughly the same mindset, so it was an informative discussion
rather than an argumentative one. My only regret, as the panel moderator,
is that I wasn't able to draw Charles out more. He doesn't much
like to intellectualize either his work or his approach to myth.
My favorite part of the convention programming is what they call
"Living Rooms," which are informal discussions in living
room settings -- rather than the Audience/Speakers divide of the
panel format. Midori, Heinz and I led an "Endicott Studio Living
Room," talking about Mythic Arts, and the use of fairy tale
themes in ones creative work. Another good panel was the one Heinz
lead on the Interstitial Arts movement. Delia Sherman was on that
one with the rest of us Usual Suspects, with Ellen Kushner contributing
from the audience. (For anyone who wants to know more about Intersitial
Arts, there's a page about it on the Endicott Studio site, www.endicott-studio.com)
I'm still hoping we can get Heinz to visit this board one of these
days, when his life settles down a bit.... I also told Pam Dean
about it, who was modestly pleased to hear that there were fans
of Tam Lin here, but then of course the board crashed, so I doubt
she's been able to access it.
I gave a slide presentation of the fairy tale art I've been working
on this last, while Ellen K., Delia, Ellen S. and Midori read feminist
fairy tale poetry aloud by the likes of Olga Broumas, Anne Sexton,
Margaret Atwood, Gwen Strauss, Liz Lochhead, Carol Ann Duffy, etc.
etc. I also repeated my slide show of art based on desert myths
for folks who had missed it last year. Charles and MaryAnn played
folk and roots music, and Charles Vess and his wife Karen Schaffer
turned up at the convention too, so it was like Old Home Week, visiting
and catching up with friends and like-minded souls.
That's my view of Wiscon. Perhaps Ellen and Midori will share theirs.
Heidi, good luck with your cross country move. L.A.! That's a big
life change, for sure.
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Carrie
Registered User
(6/20/00 6:31:34 am)
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Re: Wiscon report
Ohhh...I so wanted to be there. It sounds wonderfully inspiring. Sign me up for next year. I can't wait. Heidi - best wishes on your journey. I just purchased Midori's book, so perhaps when we both finish we could discuss it. I've heard nothing but rave reviews. Cheers.
| Ellen
Unregistered
(6/20/00 8:02:06 am)
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Wiscon
Hello, All:
It's great to have to board back again. I, too, have missed it. Terri gave you a pretty good synopsis of Wiscon. It's a very warm, intelligent convention -- lot of good people and terrific conversation. Let's see...what can I add to what Terri told you? During the shamanism panel Midori gave a lot of good background on the work of Eliade and an overview of shamanism in general. Heinz told amazing stories about lucid dreaming. As I recall, he pretty much dreamed an academic paper into being and was very surpised when the footnotes weren't completely accurate. We also talked about the use of shamanic techniques in the arts. Midori mentioned about that I'm dying to get hold of: Writers Dreaming. Part of what was so wonderful about Wiscon was that you come home with a greatly expanded list of books to be read. I went to listen to the panel on "How to Write a Sex Scene,"
which was very lively, and discovered a writer named Nalo Hopkins whom I think is terrifc, and yes, she writes fabulous sex scenes. I also loved the living rooms--they're such a friendly and inclusive way of discussing so many of the topics that are dear to our hearts. And oh, yes, there's an auction to raise money for the Tiptree Fund that is beyond description. I'm determined to go back next year and hope that many of you will be there as well
Cheers,
E.
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Carrie
Registered
(6/20/00 1:22:18 pm)
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Re: Wiscon
Ellen,
I have "Writers Dreaming." It's a wonderful collection of essays. I'm working on a book based on dreams and have read a number of books on the subject. A couple of my favorite are Jung's "Dreams" and "Our Dreaming Mind: A sweeping exploration of the role that dreams have played in politics, art, religion and psychology from ancient civiliations to the present day" by Robert L. Van de Castle, Ph.D. It helped me learn about my own experiences including lucid dreaming and paranormal dreams. I especially love the section on pregnancy and dreaming -- women tend to dream architectural dreams when they are pregnant. I love this parallel with the Mandala archtype. Oh I wish I could have gone. Next year for sure...
Cheers
Carrie
| Terri
Unregistered
(6/21/00 12:50:31 am)
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Wiscon
Ellen, the writer you're thinking of is Nalo Hopkinson. (Some of you may have read her story "Precious" in Silver Birch, Blood Moon.) Her novel "Brown Girl in the Ring" is near-future science fiction but has a fantasy feel to it, with lovely use of Jamaican folklore. I agree with Ellen, she's definitely a writer to keep an eye on.
| Ellen
Unregistered
(6/21/00 9:43:46 am)
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Wiscon
Terri -- Yes, thank you, it's Nalo Hopkinson. I picked up her *Midnight Robber,* though haven't had a chance to start it yet.
E.
| Carolyn
Unregistered
(6/24/00 8:23:10 pm)
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Wiscon report
Thank you, Ellen and Terri for your Wiscon reports! While the board was down I was dying to hear from you all, and thank you Ellen for your report from the desert! I am madly trying to finish a course in shamanism I am taking and am down to the wire, so I will be absent for awhile for the board. Thank you Christine for bringing it back---I've missed our discussions...
Cheers all,
Carolyn
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