Elijah Tomaszewski’s flash session “Beyond the Binary: Writing Transgender Characters” will be one of six featured talks during 6 Speakers, 6 Topics! He received his MFA from Rosemont College and his BA from Susquehanna University, and works with Hippocampus Magazine, Nat. Brut, and Philadelphia Stories. His writing has been featured in Soft Cartel, Isacoustic, Bright Sleep, Easy Street, and Jet Fuel Review, among others. He lives in Philadelphia, and, as you’ll read below, is just as excited for HippoCamp this year as he was last year, if not more so!
HM: Tell us a little about your involvement this year at HippoCamp. If you’re running a break-out session or workshop, what can attendees expect? If you’re involved in more than one thing, you can talk about all of them!
ET: You’ll most likely see me sprinting through the Marriott, hiding in the back of a breakout session, or otherwise being a cog in the well-oiled HippoCamp machine. Flag me down with any conference-related questions– if I don’t know the answer, I’ll find someone who does. Otherwise, I’ll be running a flash session titled “Beyond the Binary” that will supply nonfiction writers with a 10-minute bite of the terms and knowledge needed to respectfully write about transgender and GNC (gender nonconforming) folks. Get ready for some resources and a reading list! It’ll be my first time presenting at HippoCamp, and I can’t be more excited!
HM: Our motto is “memorable creative nonfiction.” Tell us about one of the more recent memoirs, essay collections, or individual essays you’ve read and why it was memorable. If it’s online, share a link!
ET: I recently read CJ Hauser’s The Crane Wife. The essay opens with, “Ten days after I called off my engagement I was supposed to go on a scientific expedition to study the whooping crane on the gulf coast of Texas.” Each sentence is a stab, punctuated by a plea to be seen and heard.
HM: What made you decide to participate in HippoCamp this year as a speaker? If you’re returning, how did your past experiences encourage you to want to come back?
ET: I attended the first HippoCamp in 2015, and have been volunteering with the magazine and the conference ever since. Attending as a conference-goer and volunteer has made me realize what I want to learn from a speaker, and what I can offer other writers as a speaker. I knew as soon as I got home from HippoCamp 2018 that I wanted to apply to present.
HM: What’s going to keep you busy between now and HippoCamp?
ET: When I’m not slinging coffee or processing returns at my day job, I’m working on two different novels (fiction! terrifying), hunting down every karaoke joint in the greater Philadelphia area, and experimenting with my hand-me-down bread machine.
HM: Since you’ll also be attending the conference, when you’re not wearing your “speaker hat,” what are you most looking forward to learning or doing?
ET: I’m most looking forward to making connections– HippoCamp has always done well for me in that regard, as well as reconnecting me with those I only see at HippoCamp. I’m also looking forward to Nick Flynn’s keynote!
HM: We love introducing Lancaster to attendees. If you live here or have been here before, what would you recommend to other attendees?
ET: On Orange is a quiet homey breakfast joint, Annie Bailey’s is perfect for a couple pints and some Irish fare with a group, and Square One once caffeinated me directly into Productive Thesis Mode. Spooky.
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Thanks, Elijah, for sharing with us! We’re excited to see you, too, and for you to see us. Reader, if you’re ready for a great weekend full of creative nonfiction, diversity, and friends in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, register now!
–Post by Viannah E. Duncan
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