What I Did Saturday: Open Secrets Live
With props to fellow writer and personal essay/memoir booster Rachel Kramer Bussell.
This is a
appreciation post. This past Saturday, Rachel hosted Live!, a nonfiction writing conference in Manhattan that’s an extension of her newsletter. It was an ambitious endeavor for one person to pull off, and she executed it beautifully.Rachel gave me the honor of moderating a panel on writing identity. Joining me were:
, Carmen Rita Wong, , , . We had a great conversation, and at the end responded to great questions from a truly engaged audience.I attended several of the other panels, which were excellent. Plus, I got to meet some writers IRL whom I’d previously only interacted with online, including
, , , , , Emily McCombs, , , and others. I also got to hang with some favs I’ve met before, including , , and . I wasn’t able to get there early enough for ’s keynote, or to meet her—another time, I hope.Over the course of the day I also crossed paths with four different authors who said that my choosing/editing/publishing early essays of theirs directly led to their first book deals, and that made me feel very good. Often the work of an editor is invisible and unsung. It’s nice to occasionally be sung.
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I had a great time at the conference and came away inspired; it was the shot in the arm I needed to get going on planning some
Live events for the fall, one in Manhattan and another in the Kingston area, where I live—although rather than a conference, I’m planning an evening of readings, interviews, and song. (*Ducks.*)It wouldn’t be the first time I benefitted from Rachel’s example and generosity. Circa 2010 or 2011, when I struggled to interest agents and editors in Goodbye to All That, I reached out to Rachel for advice because I knew she’d published many anthologies. She kindly referred me to
, who then acquired the book for Seal Press, unagented (I was between agents), changing the trajectory of my life. I’m eternally grateful to both of them.
Rachel and I also now share an agent,
, who was at the conference. Afterward Iris and I went out for tea, and continued our ongoing conversation about the proposal we’re cooking up for an Oldster anthology. After being stuck for some time on this front (have I mentioned how much I hate writing book proposals??) I’m very excited about the vision we recently arrived at for this project.***
Bonus points for Iris: She completely understood when, after our meeting, I told her I needed to walk around the city all by myself for 30 minutes before getting back on Metro North. Traveling five hours door-to-door (during which I did work); leading one panel and listening to three others; schmoozing with so many other writers and editors; then having a meeting (a great one, but still: work), I just needed to decompress in my favorite way—strolling the streets of Manhattan, taking in the sights and sounds and smells on a perfect spring day, without having to speak to another human.
Iris wasn’t offended in the least, and I was grateful. (Thank you, Iris. 🙏) When our meeting was over, we hugged goodbye, then took off in different directions.
In other news…
On Saturday, May 31st at 7pm, at Stanza Books in Beacon, NY, I’ll be in conversation with
and about Michele’s new anthology, What My Father and I Don’t Talk About. It’s the follow-up to her 2019 anthology, What My Mother and I Don’t Talk About, in which I have an essay. (In 2017, in Longreads, I edited and published the essay by the same name that preceded that book.)
Sari! Thank YOU for being an excellent moderator and for being so supportive of your fellow writers, me included. I loved your panel and am so glad you got to connect with so many people your work has touched. Those kinds of interactions, in addition to the panels, were the reason I wanted to do Open Secrets Live in the first place. I love the internet but it doesn't replace in-person meetings. And we recorded Jane's keynote so that'll be available for listening at some point.
I was there and it had a great vibe. An impressive and generous group! I hope it can become a regular thing, and I’m glad to hear you too are planning some in person events. We need it— even tho I was too shy to talk to anyone and also had to walk around by myself afterwards. 😁