Inspired

Apr 14

By Jessica Conley

I had never been to Athens before, so I didn’t know what to expect when Doctor Haugen invited me to the 2013 Lit Fest. I was not expecting it to be so beautiful and crowded. There were so many different ethnicities I felt like I was in the LAX airport. On Thursday night, the first night we arrived, Dean Young was the first guest speaker. He read a few of his poems for about an hour, but since I’m not a big fan of poetry (I can never understand it on my own) I don’t really remember what he read from. After a brief intermission we were introduced to Bonnie Jo Campbell. Just writing her name puts a smile on my face. She started a few passages from her book, Once Upon a River and then ended with The Solutions to Ben’s Problems. After her last reading I knew I had to add her to my To Be Read pile. I don’t just like her writing though; I also like her logic behind her writing. She said that, “the world tells us to solve our problems, but there’s not one simple solution for all our problems” she said more on this subject, but I was too busy listening to her wisdom to write it down. Lesson learned, next time bring a recorder because it will come in handy.

After a quick stop at Kroger we headed back to the hotel and played an intense game of Logo where everyone pretty much murdered me (not literally of course). Unfortunately, Logo looked like Candy Land, so it took a few hours to finish the game and by that point everyone just wanted someone to win.

The next morning we were introduced to one of my new literary heroes, Robert Olen Butler. He started with this “Art does not come from the mind. Art comes from the place where you dream; where you thrum”, after he said this I sat up straighter and turned up the volume on my imaginary hearing aids. He referred to our writing as the “cinema of the mind” and explained that we will not be able to thrum until we can open ourselves up to our subconscious which will “terrify us” because our subconscious is “scary as hell”. All this I took notes on because, for me, his lecture sang to me. For those of you who weren’t able to attend he said that all of this advice and more is in his book, From Where You Dream.

Bonnie Jo Campbell was up next, but this time she lectured and I was taking just as much notes on her words of wisdom as well. She talked a little about her writing process, like Butler did, and explained that sometimes her characters have the characteristics of Real Life People and those people are okay that she uses their attributes in her stories. Some even expressed gratitude that she understood them so well. I loved that she pointed out how some real life experiences find themselves in her stories and as long as you “write honestly and have respect for who you write about, real or fiction, you will be fine”.

I do not recommend eating in the Athens food court. To me, it was horrible; the hamburgers tasted like rubber and don’t even get me started on the gross Caesar dressing (Yuck)! After our final lunch at the Athens food court we drove the few blocks to the insane asylum turned art museum INSERT NAME. Even though there was some pretty impressive art displayed I was more interested in the architecture inside the building. Unfortunately, pictures weren’t permitted inside the building, so I couldn’t take any of the wide staircase, curving banisters and walls, and the intricate detail that the architect put into the building as his own personal art. When we finished looking at the art and building itself we drove down to the cemetery where all the asylum’s dead were kept under tombstones with no etchings to mark their life or death. No loved ones to pay them gratitude. It’s like they were never there at all and all they have to show on this Earth is a measly number above their tombstone.

Diane Ackerman was the first lecture that night. She looks like a person that I could easily become friends with and her voice is so soft and mellow I want to jar it up and then release it when I’m counting sheep. We learned a lot about the love that her and her husband Paul share, since he is a big reason she started her memoir One Hundred Names for Love. As a person it is sometimes hard to express yourself, but as a writer we express ourselves in the only way we know how; to write and like Diane says “it is very therapeutic”. If you can’t find confidence Diane told us to “invent confidence”. This all sounds good in theory, but once I sit down to actually write I find it hard to invent anything, much less confidence. Perhaps I’ll do what she does and stick a sticky not on the top of my computer that reads, No One Will Ever Read This. After Diane Ackerman, Sarah Lindsay was up. She too was a poet and I tried to give her a chance despite her genre, but I once again did not understand any of her poetry.

Our last day in Athens, Friday, the Lit Fest opened with a lecture from Sarah Lindsay that I did not take any notes on, because it was mostly about poetry and as I’ve stated before me and poetry don’t really mesh. Doctor Haugen seemed to like her and several other people there did too, so for you poetry buffs she seems like someone to take notes on. I may not be a fan of poetry, but it’s not for lack of trying, so I still paid attention to the genius in front of me. Dean Young had some great advice, he said “Poems create the poets to write them, you find yourself after the poem not before, the self is self-invented”. I agree with Young’s logic. You don’t find yourself until after the writing process is complete; when the only thing left to do is write The End.

My favorite part of the entire trip was the last reading. Robert Olen Butler started his reading with a decapitated chicken and then continued with a touching piece from one of his stories about a man losing his mother slowly to death. I’m glad it ended when it did or I would have wished the lights were dimmed because I was almost in the need of tissues. The last story he read was a hilarious, yet heart felt, story about a man who is reincarnated into a bird and ends up back in his home with his wife. Unfortunately, for him his wife was over his death even before he died and he had to see and hear the comings and goings of several men. I have never met an author who could write so wonderfully in several different genres. His work is truly inspirational and I cannot wait to start some of his novels.

During the brief intermission between Ackerman and Butler’s readings I tracked down Dean Young and got a picture with him and then ran into Bonnie Jo Campbell and admitted to her that she is my new girl crush. Instead of being freaked out she was super nice and even hugged me (I love her more for this). The 28^th Annual Spring Literary Festival, was a wonderful vacation and I wouldn’t change anything expect to bring a recorder; if I ever needed confidence or inspiration all I’d have to do is listen to these amazing speakers, because they were all inspiring. Luckily, I can purchase their books and find my inspiration in their stories.