Returning HippoCamp speaker Aurora Bonner will lead a session on the all important topic of revision. Thanks to Aurora for participating in our Q&A!
Tell us a little about your involvement this year at HippoCamp.
I am so excited to be returning to HippoCamp this year to offer a breakout session on one of the most important (but often neglected) steps to the writing process—revision! Revision is crucial, but you can quickly get lost if you don’t have a plan in hand. Which is exactly what this session will do: provide you with a number of ways to approach your revision process. The goal is to give you guidelines so that revision feels renewing not overwhelming. Attendees will learn revision techniques that are applicable whether you’re revising an essay or a full manuscript.
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. If it’s online, share a link!
I recently read Lilly Dancyger’s Negative Space and it is the only memoir I’ve read and immediately reread. The way she used characterization in memoir is really unique. You can read my review of Negative Space in Hippocampus Magazine here.
Lilly is also a speaker at HippoCamp this year and I’m looking forward to hearing more about her process.
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?
HippoCamp is by far my favorite writing conference. What I love is that the community is engaged and welcoming—it truly exemplifies “writers helping writers.” Sessions are intimate and accessible, designed to get you writing.
What’s going to keep you busy between now and HippoCamp?
I’ve been working on a series of environmental essays that weave in memoir and look at how our environments impact our sense of self. I’m also working on a trauma-informed writing workshop that combines mindfulness and creativity. And I have some exciting trips coming up—Shenandoah National Park, Yosemite National Park, Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park—so I am looking forward to those!
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?
Every year I leave HippoCamp with my head buzzing full of ideas from the learning that takes place, but I am most looking forward to interacting with this writing community again. I usually leave with new insights, new friends, and new opportunities to pursue.
We love introducing Lancaster to attendees. If you live here or have been here before, what would you recommend to other attendees? And, if this will be your first time here, what are you looking forward to?
Lancaster Central Market is fantastic and right across the street from the conference center. Lancaster County Central Park is a great place to go for a run or take a break and write.
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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.
