Well, it’s been almost three months since this actually happened, but I’m finally getting around to blogging it.
I was privileged to be invited to serve as the Master of Ceremonies for the annual convention of the League of Utah Writers. Basically, my duties consisted of (1) introducing the speakers, and (2) awarding door prizes by drawing numbers. Needless to say, duty #1 was more difficult but also more interesting.
On the evening of Friday, September 15, I got to introduce Elaine Christensen as the speaker at the Poetry Banquet. She gave an excellent speech, which included reading some of her award-winning poetry. I was particularly impressed by “Tornado” which you can read at http://www.comstockreview.org/winners/2000poem.html. Go on, read it before continuing, because I’m going to talk a bit about why I was impressed by it.
What impressed me the most about the poem is what was left unsaid. She gives some great imagery about the tornado, then flashes forward to the scene on the ultrasound table. Then she refers back to the tornado:
I was able to run then,
my sister and I, our wet towels plastered against us,
our bare feel slapping the sidewalk.
After she read those lines, I expected the poem to continue, to say that she could not run this time. But it ended, and I realized that there was no need for the poem to say that, because the poem got me to think that without stating it explicitly. And I think it’s more powerful to get the reader (or listener) to think something without stating it explicitly than to state it in order to hammer the point.
On Saturday, September 16, I had the honor of introducing the keynote speaker, fantasy author Terry Brooks. Here’s a (non-verbatim) excerpt from my intro:
The parallels between Terry Brooks and me are almost eerie:
- He went to law school — I went to law school.
- He writes fantasy and science fiction — I write fantasy and science fiction.
- He has twenty-two New York Times bestsellers — I . . . don’t.
Terry gave an excellent speech, filled with stories about how he became a writer and some of his experiences as an author.
I also got the chance to introduce literary agent Dr. Carole Western, who spoke about screenplays; bestselling fantasy author Tracy Hickman, who spoke about the hero’s journey; and Penguin Group editor Rebecca Behan, who spoke about writing non-fiction.
But it wasn’t all introducing speakers. I went to a workshop on writing for younger readers, presented by my friend James Dashner. I also saw several other writing friends and it was great to have a chance to chat with them.
All in all, it was a fun and educational experience. I look forward to attending next year’s Roundup in St. George.