Returning HippoCamp speaker — and volunteer extraordinaire — Eli Aharon will give an “encore” of his popular flash presentation, now extended to a full breakout session. Thanks to Eli for participating in our Q&A!
Tell us a little about your involvement this year at HippoCamp.
I’m leading a breakout session titled “Inclusion on the Page: Writing Gender-Diverse Characters.” All writers can benefit from knowing how to accurately and compassionately write trans, non-binary, and gender-diverse narratives, especially with spaces becoming more inclusive with time and younger generations viewing the gender binary as more of a nebula than a ruleset. Expanding upon my HippoCamp 2019 breakout session of the same theme, expect a deeper dive into reading, writing, and lifting up these narratives (including a comprehensive gender and identity vocabulary) and a recommended reading list!
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!
McSweeney’s just published a memoir by Emerson Whitney (they/them) titled “Heaven,” which uses gripping, conscious prose to navigate family ties, gender, and self knowledge. Read excerpts here and here.
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?
I presented a lightning round version of my breakout session at HippoCamp 2019. I was so touched by the impact my ten minutes had made on the HippoCamp attendees that I applied for a breakout session in a heartbeat. Attending and volunteering at HippoCamp since the dawn of time, and becoming so invested in the community and energy it fosters, only further solidifies my desire to keep coming back and supporting my fellow writers through a craft we all love.
What’s going to keep you busy between now and HippoCamp?
I just began editing a novel draft that I wrote during my Tribe 12 Fellowship earlier this year. The story follows a trans man and nurse midwife as he navigates his coastal Carolina hometown after a long absence. This manuscript work is in addition to compiling an essay collection that I’ve been curating since my MFA, and an ongoing attempt to lift the exceptional stress brought on by my day job since early 2020 (I work at a grocery store!).
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?
Simply interacting with other writers and getting that giddy, electric feeling that can only be brought on by literary spaces, and being face-to-face with folks I mainly know via words on a screen.
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?
I always recommend waking up early for the Lancaster Central Market across from the Marriott, especially if you don’t often encounter Amish fare. There you’ll find a treasure trove of local goodies to bring home to your friends (or to have in your hotel room after a long night out with your conference pals– who hasn’t demolished a soft pretzel at 1 a.m.?). If a sit-down breakfast is more your thing, On Orange can whip you up some Swedish pancakes or a hearty old favorite, and a group dinner-and-pints outing is best spent at Annie Bailey’s. For a sugar rush, stop by the Lancaster Sweet Shoppe for an authentic Dutch stroopwafel or an affogato. And I stand by the fact that Square One once caffeinated me directly into Productive Thesis Mode.
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Thank you, Eli! And you might want to approach Square One about an endorsement deal! That’s a heck of a compliment.
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.
