BOOKFEST DRAWS NIGH

On Monday, I’ll be at the next-to-last planning meeting for the Equality State Book Festival, Oct. 19-21 in various venues around Casper. Our committee has been working on the bookfest since December 2004 and we have high hopes that the event will reflect the many hours that went into it. We'll have readings, workshops, panels, poetry slams, history presentations, book art exhibitions, and a vendor fair. All sessions are free, except for the writing workshops and Friday evening's gala banquet. Register here.

The official name for the event is “The 20th annual Casper College Literary Conference Presents the Equality State Book Festival.” We tried to form an acronym, but TTACCLCPTESBF didn’t make any sense, although I hear there’s a town in Wales with that name. So we settled for “bookfest.” Short and sweet. Make your plans now to attend. I called for my hotel arrangements this week and was alarmed that some of the event’s hotels/motels were already running out of rooms. So don’t delay!

And don’t forget to register for one of the fine writing workshops by WAC fellowship judge Rosemary Daniell and four writers from UW’s M.F.A. program: Vicki Lindner, Alyson Hagy, Craig Arnold, and Jeff Lockwood. These writers combined have published a gazillion books (I exaggerate) and have won NEA fellowships, the Rome Prize, WAC fellowships, and more. You won’t find a more talented batch of teachers anywhere else this year in WYO. You have to register and there's a fee, with discounts for students. Get all the details at the web site.