Lisa Romeo is an author and teacher at Bay Path University’s MFA program. She returns to HippoCamp this year with a break-out session (Become a Writer Who Reads Like a Writer), and she will be part of the panel discussion called “Oh you WRITE? That’s interesting!”: A Panel on Writing While Parenting. We asked Lisa a few questions about what she thinks is going to make this year’s conference for creative nonfiction writers the best one yet.
HM: Tell us a little about your involvement this year at HippoCamp. What can attendees expect from your break-out session? ? If you’re on a panel with others, what are you most excited to share?
LR: My breakout session on reading like a writer is dear to my heart. This past academic year, I developed a similarly-named course in the MFA program where I teach. I’m a huge believer in how much reading, with intensity and intention, can help writers develop their own craft. I don’t advocate any one way or prescribed method of reading as a writer but like to gently guide, so folks can figure out for themselves how to become and remain writers who read with open, curious writing minds.
I’m also looking forward to being on the panel about writing while parenting. I’m the senior panelist, as my kids are now adults, so I’ve been through every phase. I remember the juggling, stress, and also the benefits. Most of all, I believe that almost all one-size-fits-all advice for parent writers (“Write every day or else!”) is useless, and shedding the guilt it often produces is one big step in the right direction.
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.
LR: This one is not new, but I had occasion to re-read it recently along with my CNF students. and once again was awed by its commingled complexity and simplicity—”The Washing,” an essay by Reshma Memon Yaqub that ran in the Washington Post Magazine in 2010. (It’s also reprinted in Best American Essays 2011).
HM: What made you decide to participate in HippoCamp this year as a speaker? How did your past experiences encourage you to want to come back?
LR: Last year, I was fortunate to be on the Debut Author Panel, and since then I’ve done an extended book tour and so many related events that, frankly, I was tempted this year to hibernate all summer. But I’ve been a HippoCamper from the start, and attending each year has become my way of checking in with myself as a creative writer. I get to reset my writing clock, hatch new plans, let myself dream and drift a little –-see what strikes me and what attracts my interest. I just can’t imagine not being there.
HM: What’s going to keep you busy between now and HippoCamp 2019?
LR: My major summer project is to dive into writing a new book – something I’m equally excited and terrified about! I’m also teaching a flash nonfiction class where I live in northern New Jersey with The Writers Circle. And the week before HippoCamp, I’m leading a one-week memoir workshop in New Hampshire with Peter Murphy Writing’s Live Free and Write program.
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?
LR: I love to wander into breakout sessions that are a bit out-of-the-box for me and see what I can learn, especially about topics or craft issues that seem to diverge from what I typically do or think about. A few I remember like this from past years were on documentary film, writing catastrophe narratives, telling military stories, and erasure poetry. For me, that’s the big value of a conference: to see where and how I can stretch.
HM: We love introducing Lancaster to attendees. What would you recommend to other attendees?
LR: If you can find some time, go out into the countryside about 10-15 miles in any direction away from the tourist-y areas. Drive down some quiet roads with the windows open, stop at a farm stand or for an ice cream cone. Take a walk if you stumble upon a park or pond. That always feels restorative to me.
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Thanks, Lisa! We’re so happy that you’ve chosen HippoCamp as your restorative break from your busy summer schedule!
If you want to learn more about Lisa’s sessions or about HippoCamp 2019, you can click and register here.
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