Leanne Sowul is a returning HippoCamp attendee — and a first-time HippoCamp speaker this year! Her session will help writers find their focus and discover their writing process.
Thanks to Leanne for participating in our Q&A — and for sharing so many great reading recommendations!
Tell us a little about your involvement this year at HippoCamp.
If you’re attending my session, you can expect an upbeat, inspiring, inclusive presentation that will give you multiple tools to improve your writing process. I’ll prove to you that it IS possible to have a productive, joyfully creative writing life without ignoring your family or other responsibilities! The Why-What-How technique can be used by beginning and advanced writers alike.
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.
This spring, I made my debut at Carnegie Hall… sort of. My 650-word essay “Over the Rainbow” was chosen as part of Carnegie Hall’s virtual “Voices of Hope” festival and aired via podcast on its final night, April 30. I recorded the audio in my closet with a blanket over my head to mimic a recording studio. It would have been amazing to perform the reading live on stage, but I’ll take what I can get. My partner and I are both musicians, and he had the opportunity to play there with the University of Michigan Concert Band in 2004. Our kids can now say that both of their parents performed at (or virtually at) Carnegie Hall!
What made you decide to participate in HippoCamp this year as a speaker?
Of all the writing conferences I’ve attended, HippoCamp consistently has the best and most approachable speakers. I love attending a session with an inspiring speaker, only to spot the speaker later that day diligently taking notes in another session or engaged in conversation over by the book table. It’s a beautiful atmosphere in which we are all teachers and learners without any of the hierarchy I’ve observed at other conferences.
What’s going to keep you busy between now and HippoCamp?
This summer, I’m flying to California to meet my nephew, a pandemic baby, and hug my sister for the first time in eighteen months. Our family will also be spending a week in the Adirondacks, swimming and boating and relaxing, to help us all recover from a crazy school year. Writing-wise, I’m currently polishing my historical novel, “The Eugenicist’s Assistant,” drafting flash memoir and fiction, and practicing this presentation!
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?
I can’t wait to attend sessions by other writers I’ve met and admired over the years! I’m also planning to push myself to be more social than in years past. I’ll give myself a little “introvert recovery time,” then jump right back in and make more friends!
We love introducing Lancaster to attendees. Since you have been here before, what would you recommend to other attendees?
I’ve been visiting the Lancaster area with my family since I was eleven or twelve. Amish Country is one of my favorite places in the world, and I love learning about Amish culture–in fact, my very first published short story was titled, “Amish Girl.” I love the history of the Lancaster area, the pastoral views, and the red velvet whoopie pies–yum!
My comfort with Lancaster was a major factor in my first HippoCamp attendance in 2016. At the time, I was 7 months pregnant, and thought an air-conditioned hotel in the middle of a city filled with fantastic food sounded just perfect!
Anything else you’d like to share?
I love to talk about what people are reading, so please feel free to approach me at any point during the conference and start talking books! I read in many genres, and I’m always in the middle of multiple books.
Currently, I’m reading the novel “One, Two, Three” by Laurie Frankel and the essay collection “I Miss You When I Blink” by Mary Laura Philpott. I just finished “The Good Sister” by Sally Hepworth via audiobook, and it was thrilling. “The Other Black Girl” by Zakiya Dalila Harris and “The Island of Sea Women” by Lisa See are next on my list.
For nonfiction, I highly recommend “The Premonition” by Michael Lewis, about the scientists and health specialists who predicted the pandemic. And I’m most looking forward to reading “Malibu Rising” by Taylor Jenkins Reid by the beach this summer!
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To learn more about HippoCamp: A Conference for Creative Nonfiction Writers and see our full list of speakers and sessions, visit the official conference website.
