Every year it feels like the last IFOA (International Festival of Authors) was just two weeks ago.
Admittedly, I got an earlier than usual start this year. Yesterday, Teri and I went to a reading and interview with Ben Lerner and Ian McEwan, and it seemed to go by in a blink. Right near the end, the two authors were asked what they were working on. I can’t remember McEwan’s exact answer, but it was along the lines of, “I’m very good at not writing.” And I’ve been feeling that way for a long time. Maybe it’s the summer. I never really write in the summer. I feel dormant and quite at ease about it, too. I barely think about it.
Perhaps it’s good timing, then, that IFOA starts at this time every year. During the interview I could feel little cracklings of story ideas in my brain, thoughts of dusting things off and continuing on. I feel the word “inspiration” is overworn in the blog world, but it’s really the exact word for how I feel every time at IFOA. Another yearly tradition, it seems.
I seem to shy away from larger events. It might have something to do with my attending everything under the sun during graduate school. I like the way the ritual of this event inspires you. It makes me want to reconsider my involvement in such things.
I can only manage a couple of these events a year, and now that I live farther away, it’s a bit more of a production to get there. However, I never regret it! I hope you can find something similar that works for you!