I spent my childhood being asked the question “What do you want to do when you grow up?” and thinking I needed to give a single answer: software engineer OR author OR public speaker OR crossword puzzle maker OR musician. But my life has turned out to sit much more comfortably in the world of “and.” Software engineer AND author AND public speaker AND crossword constructor AND musician. The good news is, that in computer science, the word “or” doesn’t mean “pick just one.” Because in computer science, “or” automatically includes “and.” Once we embrace this notion of “inclusive or” our lives become infinitely more exciting, dynamic, and fulfilling. 30 minutes of presentation, 15 minutes of Q&A, optional 10 minutes of music identification game.

What does it mean to be Jewish? Does being Jewish mean going to temple every Saturday? Does it mean keeping kosher and fasting on Yom Kippur and eating challah on Shabbat? Is being Judaism something you’re born into, or is it something you choose? In this talk, Aimee Lucido will talk about her experience growing up “Jew-ish,” her decision to embrace her own Judaism later in life, and the road that led to the publication of her novel RECIPE FOR DISASTER.

Both Emmy in the Key of Code and Recipe for Disaster play with the notion of what poetry can be. Emmy in the Key of Code creates poetry out of the coding language Java, and Recipe for Disaster creates poetry out of recipes. But who says poetry stops there? Poetry can be made from anything that includes words, sounds, or images, and in this presentation, we deep dive into all the cool things that poetry can be (30 minute presentation, optional 30 minute writing exercise,15 minute Q&A)

How does an idea become a book? In this presentation we deep-dive into the multi-year process full of writing, revision, rejection, and ultimately, celebration, as we learn how books are made.

We think of poetry as an all or nothing thing in books. Either we’re writing a novel in verse, or we’re writing a prose novel, and there’s no in-between. But there are so many ways to incorporate poetry into a prose novel, ranging from poetry-as-device to poetry-as-voice to poetry-as-literary-stretching. In this workshop we will study existing examples of how prose books incorporate poetry, and do a little bit of play with our own projects to see how poetry can unlock the hard-to-reach depths of our own work.

Poetry can be intimidating for even the most advanced readers and writers, but, counterintuitively, the white space and lower word count can actually make novels in verse more accessible to reluctant readers than their denser prose counterparts. In this presentation we discuss how to teach a novel in verse in class, exploring classic story elements, like plot and character and theme, while simultaneously discussing format, rhythm, rhyme, and metaphor.

I spent my childhood being asked the question “What do you want to do when you grow up?” and thinking I needed to give a single answer: software engineer OR author OR public speaker OR crossword puzzle maker OR musician. But my life has turned out to sit much more comfortably in the world of “and.” Software engineer AND author AND public speaker AND crossword constructor AND musician. The good news is, that in computer science, the word “or” doesn’t mean “pick just one.” Because in computer science, “or” automatically includes “and.” Once we embrace this notion of “inclusive or” our lives become infinitely more exciting, dynamic, and fulfilling. 30 minutes of presentation, 15 minutes of Q&A, optional 10 minutes of music identification game.

What does it mean to be Jewish? Does being Jewish mean going to temple every Saturday? Does it mean keeping kosher and fasting on Yom Kippur and eating challah on Shabbat? Is being Judaism something you’re born into, or is it something you choose? In this talk, Aimee Lucido will talk about her experience growing up “Jew-ish,” her decision to embrace her own Judaism later in life, and the road that led to the publication of her novel RECIPE FOR DISASTER.

Both Emmy in the Key of Code and Recipe for Disaster play with the notion of what poetry can be. Emmy in the Key of Code creates poetry out of the coding language Java, and Recipe for Disaster creates poetry out of recipes. But who says poetry stops there? Poetry can be made from anything that includes words, sounds, or images, and in this presentation, we deep dive into all the cool things that poetry can be (30 minute presentation, optional 30 minute writing exercise,15 minute Q&A)

How does an idea become a book? In this presentation we deep-dive into the multi-year process full of writing, revision, rejection, and ultimately, celebration, as we learn how books are made.

We think of poetry as an all or nothing thing in books. Either we’re writing a novel in verse, or we’re writing a prose novel, and there’s no in-between. But there are so many ways to incorporate poetry into a prose novel, ranging from poetry-as-device to poetry-as-voice to poetry-as-literary-stretching. In this workshop we will study existing examples of how prose books incorporate poetry, and do a little bit of play with our own projects to see how poetry can unlock the hard-to-reach depths of our own work.

Poetry can be intimidating for even the most advanced readers and writers, but, counterintuitively, the white space and lower word count can actually make novels in verse more accessible to reluctant readers than their denser prose counterparts. In this presentation we discuss how to teach a novel in verse in class, exploring classic story elements, like plot and character and theme, while simultaneously discussing format, rhythm, rhyme, and metaphor.