Jack Williamson Lectureship

I just received news that the date of this year's Jack Williamson Lectureship, held at ENMU's Jack Williamson Library has been set for April 10, 2009. The guest of honor will be my old Clarion West instructor, Nalo Hopkinson. I make it down to this lectureship whenever I can; it's rather amazing to have the opportunity to spend time with so many luminaries in the field of SF in such an intimate setting. The town is small, so often the group will go to Dairy Queen in the afternoon. It's very informal. Another former instructor of mine, and a friend, Connie Willis, puts on a regular appearance there too. I gather the rest of the guest list for the lectureship is still being finalized. I've been invited and plan to come, baby permitting.

Nalo and I actually got to know each other a little before I went to Clarion West. I emailed her a writing question and she was kind enough to respond. We corresponded for a while, and one of the questions I asked her, she didn't have a ready answer for. I joked that if I got into Clarion West that year, I'd ask it again, and she emailed back, "deal". Of course, I didn't seriously expect to get into the workshop, but I did. Learning from her was very, very cool, and I very much look forward to seeing her again this spring.