Las Vegas Book Festival 2018
Inspiration & Illumination
It’s early Sunday morning and the rare Las Vegas rain is performing a duet with my roof shingles. The perfect moment to write about yesterday’s Las Vegas Book Festival. It takes place at the Historic Fifth Street School. Strolling in the morning sun I could just make out the curves and simplicity of Mission-Revival architecture through the vendor tents. Lofty literary discussions and colorful artwork meant for children are both at home in the courtyards and rooms of this 1936 gem.
I attended a 9 AM panel titled Historical Fiction and the Search for the Usable Past. Moderated by John Hay, the panel included three writers with distinct contributions to the genre: Adrienne Sharp, Amanda Skenandore, and Paula Saunders. Hay asked the expected questions about the research process and historical accuracy in fiction. Skenandore—who in full disclosure (and brag) is a good friend of mine—gave a lovely response in regards to accuracy. She said (I’m paraphrasing) there is a covenant between authors who write about historical events and their readers. She makes an effort to stay close to the truth while inserting her fictitious characters.
Hay picked up on a few threads of similarity in the authors’ work, including the American West. Sharp explained her attraction to the “empires built by Jews”, first Hollywood then Las Vegas. Skenandore spoke of introducing a lesser-known Native American narrative. Saunders waxed poetic about the joys of growing up immersed in nature.
After this panel, I explored the vendor booths and speaker tents. It was time well spent as I encountered and caught up with friends. It was inspiring and encouraging to hear their stories of recent successes or struggles. In the past year, I’ve thrown myself wholeheartedly into writing. Luckily, I found a supportive and welcoming community. Henderson Writers Group is very much a part of that community, which is why I volunteered to work the HWG booth at the festival from eleven to one.
The festival featured an excellent combination of high profile events, including What My Teacher Taught Me, which had already started by the time I snuck in after my shift at the HWG booth. Former students (now prominent authors and teachers in their own right) paid tribute to Douglas Unger in touching speeches. Brittany Bronson spoke of how Unger instructed students to be a “person of letters”, meaning a well-rounded literary citizen who views their skills as a means of creating change and helping others. George Saunders exalted Unger’s willingness to “work with you where you are”, noticing budding potential and cultivating it with generosity.
Kindness was a thread woven throughout all of the tributes, including Ernie Wang’s. He said Unger taught him that “love and kindness come before everything else.” Unger took the stage with a speech of his own, allowing a small glimpse into what it might be like to study under this literary icon. Among many inspiring phrases intended for the former students who just sang his praises, one has stayed with me “If you’re pushing pure beauty don’t let anyone dissuade you.”
I was so looking forward to the Amanda Fortini moderated panel There’s Always Some There There: Writing About Place. Unfortunately, the small imperative to eat got in the way and I missed it. If anyone reading this was there, please fill me in!
The final event I attended was the keynote by Colson Whitehead, Revisiting the Underground Railroad. Whitehead disarmed the audience with self-deprecating humor, along with a window into his childhood and self. He kept us all laughing until the reading portion of his speech when he read a harrowing selection from his novel The Underground Railroad.
In an interesting resonance to the panel I attended in the morning, Whitehead addressed the question of historical accuracy in his novel, “I’m not going to stick to the facts. I want to stick to the truth.” He also discussed overcoming the fear of tackling slavery as a subject matter when others before him, like Toni Morrison, had done it so perfectly. “What right do I have to put my story out in the world?... Accept that better people have done it and trust in your experience.” This is a liberating concept I plan on taking to heart.
If you were there, I hope this day was inspirational and exciting for you like it was for me. And if you missed it, don’t worry, there are only 364 days between now and the next Las Vegas Book Festival. But who’s counting?
