OPA is bringing our annual conference to you through Zoom again this year. It will take place Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023 from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. The theme this year is Getting Past the Mask. Come celebrate a full day of poetry with eight fascinating workshops, a virtual bookstore, and a keynote speech by Kelli Russell Agodon. The conference will also include updates on all things OPA, presentation of the Banta Award, and introduction of the new board.
About our keynote speaker:
Kelli Russell Agodon is the author of four collection of poems, including the award-winning Dialogues with Rising Tides, which was published by Copper Canyon Press in 2021. She is the co-founder of Two Sylvias Press as well as the co-director of Poets on the Coast: A Weekend Retreat for Women. Agodon lives in a sleepy seaside town in Washington State on traditional land of the Chimacum, Coast Salish, S’Klallam, and Suquamish people. She is an avid paddleboarder and hiker. She teaches at Pacific Lutheran University’s low-res MFA program, the Rainier Writing Workshop. More at https://www.agodon.com/index.html.
The day’s workshops will include:
Dale Champlin—I’ll Have What She’s Having: Writing Erotic Poetry
Susan Dingle—From Page to Stage: How to Make Your Reading as Inviting as your Writing
Joan Dobbie—Be Inspired by the Work of Kenneth Patchen
Christopher Luna—Candor Ends Paranoia: A Discussion of the Use of Masks in Poetry
Katherine Quevedo—The Art of Speculative Poetry
Janice Rubin—Images, the Poet’s Craft
Lynne Schmidt—Generating Poems Through Research
Jo Van Arkel—Enchantment: Writing from Myths, Folk and Fairy Tales
Promote Your Books
With the OPA conference being virtual again this year, we will once again offer a virtual book room to promote the work of our members. Visit https://opa.submittable.com for the forms to submit your books.
Conference registration is open now. Cost is $45 for OPA members, $55 for non-members. To sign up, visit our Submittable page at https://opa.submittable.com/submit. Information and Zoom links will follow.
Next year’s conference will get past our own masks and be held in person. Location TBA.