Lara Lillibridge is the author of two memoirs—Girlish: Growing Up in a Lesbian Home and Mama, Mama, Only Mama. She returns to HippoCamp for the 4th year with a jam-packed schedule. She will be moderating the panel “Oh you WRITE? That’s interesting!”: A Panel on Writing While Parenting, leading the session Lightening the Load, and discussing the hot topic of hybrid writing in the session Hybrid Truth: From Mongrel Essays to Comics Poetry. We asked Lara a few questions about what is going to make this year’s conference for creative nonfiction writers different than other years.
HM: Tell us a little about your involvement this year at HippoCamp. What can attendees expect from your break-out session? What are you most excited to share from your panel?
LL: I’m super excited to get to moderate the panel on Writing While Parenting. I’ve been talking a lot lately about both the logistics of writing with children and the stigma of writing about family. I’m always eager to talk about hybridity. Many writers are veering off the traditional path and it’s making CNF fresh and vibrant. Finally, I get to lead a session about making dark stories bearable for the reader, while staying true to your lived experience. Many of us don’t have happy stories, but they are important stories that need to be told honestly. There are several ways to write our truths without overwhelming the reader, and I’m enthusiastic about sharing them.
HM: 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.
LL: I read a lot of books pre-release on Net Galley. I just finished Motherhood So White by Nefertiti Austin, scheduled for release September 2019. She is a Black adoptive single mother, and her book fills a void in the literature on parenting. Because I just published my own single mama memoir, I loved seeing a different voice in the conversation.
HM: What made you decide to participate in HippoCamp this year as a speaker? How did your past experiences encourage you to want to come back?
LL: I love HippoCamp. I started out painfully shy and overwhelmed, and now feel like it’s old-home week.
HM: What’s going to keep you busy between now and HippoCamp?
LL: I co-edited an anthology of women’s voices, Feminine Rising: Voices of Power and Invisibility, with Andrea Fekete, which just came out April 30th. A week later, my second memoir, Mama, Mama, Only Mama: An Irreverent Guide for the Newly Single Parent—from Divorce and Dating to Cooking and Crafting, All While Raising the Kids and Maintaining Your Own Sanity (Sort Of) came out. So I’ve been a bit crazy with the back-to-back releases, but the kind of crazy I’ve always dreamed of. I’ll be traveling a bit between now and HippoCamp for the books, plus a few family vacations. I travel with my laptop and write everywhere I go—I always have a few half-finished things I’m working on and plans for more things I’d like to work on. I’d say I’d love to skip sleep and write more, but sleeping is one of my favorite hobbies.
HM: 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?
LL: I’m particularly intrigued by the sessions on the business side of writing. I get to attend a session by Lawrence Knorr from Sunbury Press? Really? Plus podcasting! And Joey Garcia and Allison Williams were outstanding in previous years, and I can’t wait to hear what they have to say this time. Amy Fish is hands down one of the funniest people I know, and she’s always generous with sharing her wisdom and experience.
HM: We love introducing Lancaster to attendees. What would you recommend to other attendees?
LL: I didn’t discover the market until last year, and it is now a must-see for me. I always bring my kids something when I go out of town without them, and last year I stocked up on gummy frogs and pigs and some sort of lemon ring thing that was delicious.
HM: Anything else you’d like to share?
LL: One thing I love about HippoCamp is how they print our Twitter handles on our name tags. It’s fun to meet people IRL that I “know” online. The conference is big enough to provide inspiration no matter what your skill level, yet small enough to be able to make meaningful human connections. This will be my fourth year attending, and every year I get more out of it.
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Thanks, Lara, for your many years of dedication to HippoCamp! We hope this year brings more unexpected inspirational moments.
And reader, are you curious about why so many writers have made it their home-away-from-home? Click here to register or to learn more about HippoCamp 2019.
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