What I did today:
- 7:15 am: awoke to shower and dress for breakfast at 7:30 in the dining hall
- 9 - 10 am: attended Charles Baxter's lecture, "The Request Moment, or 'There's Something I' Want You to Do," in which he illustrated the importance of making demands in fiction and poetry
- 10 - 10:45 am: printed out stories for workshop and meetings with editors
- 10:45 - 11 am: snuck in a much-needed nap
- 11: 15 - 1:30: set the dining room tables, served coffee, and bussed tables for lunch
- 2:30 - 3:30: attended a publishing panel hosted by a group of literary agents and editors
- 4:30 - 5:15: attended a reading by Emilia Philips, Terrance Hayes and Lia Purpura
- 5:30 - 8: set the dining room, waited on and bussed two tables, snuck in a late dinner
- 8 - 8:20: found time to shower
- 8:30 - 9:30: attended a reading by Vievee Francis, Anthony Marra and Helena Maria Viramontes
- 9:30 - 10:30: attended a reading by the Bread Loaf Scholars, a group of emerging writers who were awarded fellowships
I believe that Sunday will be my longest day; I'm set to work breakfast, lunch, and dinner, as well as an hour-long barista shift. I have an informational meeting scheduled with a literary agent and plan to attend a writing class lead by my aforementioned writer-crush Kristiana Kahakauwila. There are also two other readings scheduled and a special talk about submitting to literary magazines. Oh, and a dance. Did I mention that there's an entire population of Bread Loafers who make up the social staff? Apparently they organize and host 45 separate events over the 10 days of the conference--cocktail parties, pizza parties, picnics, dances.
This really is writer camp.