Category: Bread Loaf

  • Robert Boswell reads…

    …from his marvelous short story collection The Heyday of the Insensitive Bastards over at Lively Words

  • Bread Loaf Day #3

    Saturday, August 15, 2009 I barely made it to breakfast. While the waiters were lifting up the hot trays of eggs I was grabbing frantically for a hard-boiled egg and some plain oatmeal before they whisked everything away. On the plus side, when I went to wolf down my food, I ended up sitting right…

  • Bread Loaf, day 2 (for me)

    Friday, August 14, 2009 The morning lecture was with Thomas Mallon, titled, “Epistler in Chief: Six Presidents in Their Letters.” He is such an engaging speaker, charming and funny and composed. I always love hearing him speak. And his topic was fascinating—presidential letters and diaries. Something that we (sadly) won’t have anymore because the concerns…

  • Bread Loaf!

    Bread Loaf, August 13, 2009 Should I make a disclaimer here? That I adore Bread Loaf and maybe I’m not the most unbiased reporter of happenings from the Mountain? Nah. If you didn’t know that about me already, you’ll figure it out soon enough. 🙂 This is my first time returning to Bread Loaf in…

  • Mark Doty’s lecture

    Hey, I found my notes! And it only took two weeks. Anyway, Mark Doty’s lecture was titled “Whitman in Tears” and was born of an essay he wrote for Virginia Quarterly Review on the anniversary of the publication of Leaves of Grass. The first thing Doty discussed was the poetic tone in of Leaves of…

  • Day 11

    Day 11 was the final day of fiction workshop. It was my turn to be workshopped, and going last was a new experience for me. The last two years I was the first to be critiqued. As “Akers” I am often expected to go first. In grade school, I would be the first to answer…

  • Day 10

    Bread Loaf, Day 10 began with a lecture by Mark Doty (and if you don’t already know how I feel about the man and his work, you haven’t been paying attention). I was definitely there, and was not disappointed. (Damn! Where are my notes?????) I’ll have to get back to you on recapping the lecture,…

  • Day 9

    Well, I’m actually back home, recovering, but I’m going to keep my promise and recap each and every day on the mountain. Day 9 at Bread Loaf was a staff day off. (Yay. This is the first year they’ve done this and it was very welcome.) Most of us did laundry, slept late, and engaged…

  • Day 8 Continued

    After Randall Keenan’s craft class (which was fun and useful) I had big dreams of a quick nap, but it was time to head to Treman to set up for our Harley-themed night. We put up posters of motorcycles, made a bar sign for the front door–“The Exhaust Pipe”–turned out the lights and used red,…

  • Day 8

    The day began with a lecture by Mac McIlvoy titled “Somatic Wisdom.” He’s one of my new writing heros now that I have heard him read and lecture. (Note to self: next step, buy his books.) Mac started his lecture by referencing Virginia W. (I’m abreviating because it’s nearing the end of the conference and…