Join us
in Yosemite Valley in
the sublime winter season for a journey into the literature
and landscape of the west. The conference is designed for
a variety of interest levels, from curious students and
readers of western literature to aspiring and accomplished
writers. Its goal is to attract and introduce writers and
other artists to Yosemite and to engage them in literary
contemplation, activity, and exchange. Through workshops,
panel discussions, readings, and informal sessions, participants
will celebrate and explore the literary landscape of California,
the Sierra Nevada, and the American West with a distinguished
group of writers, publishers, artists, photographers, and
scientists. Click here
for more Literary Conference Information.
Conference Location:
The site of the conference is the magnificent Ahwahnee
Hotel in Yosemite Valley, a National Historic Landmark and
one of the grand lodges in the national park system. Known
for its elegant high-ceilinged lounge and dining room, the
Ahwahnee is appointed in a Native American motif, carried
out in painted beams, wall murals, floor mosaics, and stained
glass windows. With crackling fires blazing in its over-sized
rock fireplaces, the hotel will be a cozy and inviting venue
for this winter event.
Teachers:
The Yosemite Association is pleased to offer continuing
education credit in partnership with the Department of Education
of UC Berkeley Extension.
Conference Presenters
Include:
Francisco X. Alarcon is one of the nation's most
prominent Chicano poets. In Snake Poems (winner of the American
Book Award in 1993) and seven other volumes, he explores
the links between the mythic/literal landscapes of Atztlan
life in ur-Mexico and contemporary multicultural America.
Laughing Tomatoes (1997) and three following volumes of
poetry for children received special awards from the American
Library Association in 2000 and 2001.
Karen Joy Fowler is the author of four ingenious
books of fiction, starting with Sarah Canary (1991), of
which the New York Times Book Review wrote, "The sheer
confidence of her vision blinds the reader in a vivid dream."
Set in the Northwest Territory in the 19th century, the
novel is a modern classic with readers all over the planet.
Sister Noon (2001), her most recent novel, was nominated
for the PEN/Faulkner Award.
Gerald Haslam has almost twenty books in print,
many of which chronicle the regions of his birth (Bakersfield)
and rearing (Oildale). A distinguished Californian of letters,
he has recently published Straight White Male, Condor Dreams,
and Coming of Age in California.
Jack Hicks is Yosemite conference organizer and
director. He is editor (with Maxine Hong Kingston, James
Houston and Al Young) of the landmark collection The Literature
of California, volume I of which was published in 2000 by
the University of California Press. Volume II will appear
in 2004.
Kimi Kodani Hill is editor of Shades of California
and a collection of her grandfather Chiura Obata's art:
Topaz Moon: Chiura Obata's Art of the Internment.
Farewell to Manzanar, Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston's
memoir of her family's 1942-45 internment in Manzanar relocation
camp, has been in print and a modern classic since publication
in 1973. She is also author of Beyond Manzanar and Don't
Cry, It's Only Thunder: A Vietnam Memoir.
Maxine Hong Kingston is the author of three novels,
the first of which, Woman Warrior (1976), catapulted her
to international prominence. China Men (1980) and Tripmaster
Monkey (1989) followed, as did many honorary degrees, distinctions,
and awards, including the United States Presidential Medal
in 1998. To Be the Poet, essays on writing, was published
in 2002. A draft of The Fifth Book of Peace, her fourth
novel, was destroyed in the Oakland hills firestorm of 1991.
Rewritten, it will appear in 2003.
Eldridge Moores is a geologist specializing in geology
and plate tectonics in the northern Sierra Nevada. Aside
from his own voluminous research on the structural origins
of continents, he was the human subject around which John
McPhee wrapped Assembling California (1993).
Quincy Troupe is the author of 13 books and the
winnter of two American Book Awards, for his poetry and
Miles: The Autobiography. His credits include take it to
the hoop, Magic Johnson, a children's book. He is also a
two-time winner of the Heavyweight-Champion national standup
poetry competition and a featured poet on two PBS productions.
