Nebraska 2012

Written by Meghan Daum | 15 June 2012

Just finished a week of teaching at the Nebraska Writers Conference in Lincoln. My class "Finding Your Authenthic Voice in Creative Nonfiction" went for three hours a day, every day. I think I have about exactly 15 hours of information in me to impart to students, so it was lucky the conference didn't go another day. I think a few students may have come close to finding their authentic voices. The others are doing a good job of faking it, which is half the battle, if not even more impressive.

It's my fourth year teaching here, though it's been ten years since I moved on from my adventure in Nebraska. Here's a road near the little farmhouse I lived in during my time here. I know this landscape isn't for everyone, but it just undoes me everytime. It is so austere and stunning and beautiful to me.

Oh, and I made my students watch this video of the brilliant and kickass Fran Lebowitz talking about Jane Austen. Actually she's talking about the whole nature of writing and reading and responding to literature (and why Austen is loved for all the wrong reasons.) This has nothng to do with Nebraska. But, like the Conhusker State, listening to Fran Lebowitz is one of my favorite things. (Bet you've never seen those two mentioned in the same sentence before.)

Fran Lebowitz. Not a Nebraskan.

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