Author: Siel

Thanks to everyone who came to our Bindercon LA panel, How to Build a Writing Community!

And thank you to my fellow panelists — Michelle Franke of The Rattling Wall and Pen Center USA, Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo of Women Who Submit, Neelanjana Banerjee of Kaya Press, and poet Lauren Eggert-Crowe — for sharing valuable tips and tools and for acting as community-builders in the Los Angeles literary community.

The entire two-day event was fun and practical and aspirational and motivational. I especially got a lot out of Glendaliz Camacho and Grace Sobrenome’s panel on applying to residencies — and was inspired  by Pamela Redmond Satran‘s talk about pursuing a diverse writing career. A big thank you to the Bindercon LA organizers — Leigh Stein, Kima Jones, Andrea Guevara, and many others for putting all of this together.

Coming to the AWP Conference in Los Angeles? Wake up early and come to the flashiest panel of the weekend: The Flash Sequence: A Reading and Discussion. I’ll be one of the panelists, reading fiction and discussing tiny works of prose —

What: The Flash Sequence: A Reading and Discussion at AWP Conference
When: Friday, April 1, 2016, 9 am – 10:15 am
Where: Los Angeles Convention Center (Room 406 AB, Meeting Room Level), Los Angeles

The panel was born out of the just-published flash sequence anthology Nothing to Declare, which contains a story of mine. The other panelists — Sonia Greenfield (Boy with a Halo at the Farmer’s Market), Irena Praitis (Straws and Shadows), and Jenn Koiter — also have work in the anthology. Debra Marquart (The Horizontal World: Growing Up Wild in the Middle of Nowhere) will moderate.

Please come by and say hello — and if you’re free the Thursday night before this panel, join me at the Best of the West Reading.

The AWP Conference is coming to Los Angeles in a couple weeks, along with a crush of literary panels, readings, and other shenanigans happening both on and offsite. I’m on a panel at the actual conference (more on that later) but the night before that happens, I hope you’ll come hear me read some of my new fiction at an offsite reading:

What: Best of the West Reading (AWP Conference offsite event)
When: Thursday, March 31, 2016, 6 pm – 7:30 pm
Where: Villain’s Tavern, 1356 Palmetto St, Los Angeles

The event’s presented by The Los Angeles Review, Pacifica Literary Review, and Cutbank! I’ll be reading with Corinne Manning (founding editor of The James Franco Review), Madgalawit Makonnen, Jeff Walt, William Camponovo, Catherine Pond, Daniel Riddle Rodriguez, and Caleb Tankersley.

Hope to see you there — and say hello when I see you at AWP!

Bindercon LA — a conference and community for women and gender non‑conforming writers — happens this weekend!

Get a ticket to hear from writers ranging from Jillian Lauren to Lisa Kudrow, pitch your writing to agents and publishers, and participate in networking sessions. And come to the “How to Build a Writing Community” panel– moderated by myself.

What: How to Build a Writing Community at Bindercon LA
When: Saturday, March 19 at 2 pm
Where: UCLA campus, in Carnesale Commons

Joining me on the panel are Michelle Franke of The Rattling Wall and Pen Center USA, Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo of Women Who Submit, Neelanjana Banerjee of Kaya Press, and poet Lauren Eggert-Crowe.

Hope to see you there —

Thanks to everyone who came out to Highland Park for Vermin on the Mount!

Special thanks to Jim Ruland for hosting — and to photographer and writer Scot Sothern, Kevin Moffett (Permanent Visitors), Josh Stallings (Young Americans), and Rebecca Gonzales for sharing their work —

Happy belated Valentine’s Day!