Rebecca Fish Ewan is a poet, cartoonist, writer, and zinemaker, as well as a landscape architecture teacher at Arizona State University. Her memoir By the Forces of Gravity was published in 2018. She will discuss hybrid forms of writing and how to incorporate drawing in CNF writing at her pre-conference workshop “Drawing for Writers,” as well as at the presentation “Hybrid Truth: From Mongrel Essays to Comics Poetry.” We talked to Rebecca about writing, HippoCamp 2019, and even cemeteries.
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?
RFE: I’m offering a pre-conference workshop on drawing for writers and doing a session with Lara Lillibridge on hybrid-form work. I love sharing drawing and hybridity with writers, especially work that mingles words with hand-rendered images. For the workshop, we’ll draw together with an emphasis on fun, as I help writers find ways to bring drawing into their writing lives. The hybrid session will explore ways to create hybrid work. Lara and I will use our own work and the work of others to reveal the rich world of hybridity.
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.
RFE: The Collected Schizophrenias by Esmé Weijun Wang is phenomenal (Graywolf Press). I also loved The Buddha Sat Right Here by Dena Moes (She Writes Press).
HM: What made you decide to participate in HippoCamp this year as a speaker? If you’re a returning speaker, how did your past experiences encourage you to want to come back?
RFE: At my first HippoCamp, I was on the Flash Panel, then last year offered a session and read from my new memoir. Because of the enthusiasm for drawing I got from attendees, I wanted to return to offer a workshop on drawing for writers. I also wanted to do a collaborative session on hybrid form. Hybridity is so much about blurring edges—it helps to have other points of view in talking about it. What I love about HippoCamp is the commitment everyone has to the craft of writing and to creative nonfiction. The mood of HippoCamp is so welcoming. As a writer who draws, it’s been a joy to bring my doodle-love to HippoCamp to such warm reception.
HM: What’s going to keep you busy between now and HippoCamp?
RFE: July in Arizona is like winter in Buffalo, in that going outside is a torment, so I’ll be home drawing and writing. I’m working on a craft book on drawing for writers, doing illustrations (with Alyssa Graybeal, another writer who draws) for an anthology of personal narrative, and slowly narrowing in on my next book-length hybrid form work. And I’ll be prepping for HippoCamp!
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?
RFE: I love the craft sessions, so mostly attend these, but I try to squeeze in a promotional session or two to fill myself with angst about my total lack of marketing/platform DNA. I also enjoy getting outside to explore Lancaster.
HM: We love introducing Lancaster to attendees. If you live here or have been here before, what would you recommend to other attendees?
RFE: I like cemeteries, so for those who also enjoy them, you can visit a few nearby ones (Lancaster, Woodward and Greenwood). I had coffee every day at Square One Coffee Roasters, because I liked the vibe and decor.
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Thanks, Rebecca! We’re excited for you to share your love of doodling with us at this year’s conference.
HippoCamp 2019 is quickly approaching, but it’s not too late to register. Click here to register or learn about the other great sessions and speakers.
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