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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260628T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260628T203000
DTSTAMP:20260627T143151
CREATED:20260527T192218Z
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UID:67205-1782673200-1782678600@www.hippocampusmagazine.com
SUMMARY:STORIES ON SUNDAY: No Contact: Writers on Estrangement with Jenny Bartoy\, Danielle Jernigan and Nicole Graev Lipson
DESCRIPTION:Enjoy readings and hear the story behind the stories during this next Stories on Sunday. Registration details to follow\, after event + book info.  \nThis edition of Stories on Sunday features an anthology: No Contact: Writers on Estrangement. We’ll be joined by editor Jenny Bartoy and two contributors: Danielle Jernigan and Nicole Graev Lipson. Our associate editor Rae Pagliarulo will lead the discussion. \nAll Stories on Sundays guest readers have a connection to Hippocampus Magazine; Jenny is one of our regular interviewers and Nicole Graev Lipson is a past contributor (and contest finalist!). \nAbout the Series: Stories on Sundays are bi-monthly(ish) readings from a recent/forthcoming work of creative nonfiction followed by an author interview + audience Q&A. This is event is free or by donation; Your registration helps fund our contributor payments and other costs associated with running our journal. \n\nABOUT THE BOOK (from BookShop): Estrangement presents an essential existential question: who are we without our family? What kind of person cuts the proverbial umbilical cord and why? And who do we become\, once untethered from our kin? \nFamilies fall apart and individuals cut ties for myriad reasons — abuse\, politics\, mental illness\, and addiction\, among others — and reunification often is not in the cards. Through thirty-two intimate\, first-person accounts\, No Contact: Writers on Estrangement counters the prevalent trope of reconciliation as a happy ending\, focusing instead on the complex grief\, healing\, and authenticity found in the rupture from family. \nThis collection features work by Hannah Bae\, Eben E. B. Bein\, Soni Brown\, Lorne Daniel\, Lindsey Danis\, Michelle Dowd\, Nick Flynn\, Stephanie Foo\, Gabriela Denise Frank\, Susan Ito\, Danielle Jernigan\, noam keim\, Erika Krouse\, Monique Laban\, Cassandra Lewis\, Kate Lewis\, Nicole Graev Lipson\, Tiffany Aldrich MacBain\, Jamal Mahjoub\, Onita Morgan-Edwards\, Emi Nietfeld\, Geneva Phillips\, Deesha Philyaw\, Anna Qu\, Domenica Ruta\, Oslyn Serratos\, Alyson Shelton\, Cheryl Strayed\, Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore\, Raksha Vasudevan\, Jane Wong\, and Kristen Millares Young. \n\nABOUT OUR GUESTS: \nJenny BartoyDanielle Jernigan headshotNicoleGraevLipson–AuthorPhoto\nJenny Bartoy is a French American writer\, developmental editor\, and critic. She’s the editor of No Contact: Writers on Estrangement (Catapult\, 2026). Her work appears in several anthologies and in publications such as Hippocampus Magazine\, Literary Hub\, The Rumpus\, Under the Gum Tree\, Room\, Chicago Review of Books\, The Boston Globe\, and The Seattle Times among others. She holds a master’s degree in sociocultural anthropology from Columbia University and lives in the Pacific Northwest. \nDanielle Jernigan is an essayist\, editor\, and book coach with a background in birth work\, maternal mental health\, and publishing. Her Tiny Victory microessay appeared in the New York Times\, and she has been quoted in the Washington Post. Her work explores how childhood abuse and birth-related trauma shape matrescence and our capacity to love. Her current project is a literary magazine focused on the same themes. Danielle lives in the Midwest with her youngest child. \nNicole Graev Lipson is the USA Today bestselling author of the memoir in essays Mothers and Other Fictional Characters. Her writing has appeared in The Sun\, Virginia Quarterly Review\, River Teeth\, Hippocampus Magazine\, LA Review of Books\, The Washington Post\, and The Boston Globe\, among other venues. Her work has been awarded a Pushcart Prize\, selected for The Best American Essays\, and shortlisted for a National Magazine Award. Lipson received her MFA in creative writing from Emerson College and lives outside of Boston with her family.
URL:https://www.hippocampusmagazine.com/event/stories-on-sunday-no-contact-writers-on-estrangement/
LOCATION:Online (Zoom Webinar)
CATEGORIES:Hippo Organizing,Reading,Stories on Sunday
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ORGANIZER;CN="Hippocampus Magazine and Books":MAILTO:hippocampusmagazine@gmail.com
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260721T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260721T203000
DTSTAMP:20260627T143151
CREATED:20260526T191725Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260623T035237Z
UID:67192-1784660400-1784665800@www.hippocampusmagazine.com
SUMMARY:How-To Tuesday: Writing Rage in Enraging Times with Amy Monticello
DESCRIPTION:As writers\, we’re often told that rage can turn a reader off. And yet we live in an angry time. This session focuses on writing rage that enhances the insights of creative nonfiction rather than dilutes them. \nAmy’s talk treats rage as a complex rather than simple emotion—one that has endless iterations. She will analyze works where rage enters the narrative voice\, enhancing its urgency\, transgression\, reclamation\, and humor. \nBrief takeaways: \n\nRage has a bad rap but this is often weaponized against writers (largely women and BIPOC writers)\nRage is like any emotion — it can be used bluntly or with subtlety\nRage can be enormously satisfying and/or freeing to write\nRage provides a heat source that powers other emotions and insights\n\nAttendees will leave this talk armed with rage as a craft tool of precision and candor. \nAbout the series: How-To Tuesdays are monthly talks on the craft of creative nonfiction\, publishing\, marketing and the writing life led by Hippocampus Magazine editors & contributors. Your registration helps fund our contributor payments and other costs associated with running our journal. \nAbout the Speaker\nAmy Monticello is the author of Close Quarters\, a chapbook memoir about unconventional divorce (Sweet Publications)\, and the essay collection How to Euthanize a Horse\, which won the 2016 Arcadia Press Chapbook Prize in Nonfiction. \nShe is also co-author\, along with husband Jason Tucker\, of The Routledge Introduction to American Life Writing (2023). Her work has been published in the North American Review\, the Los Angeles Review of Books\, Creative Nonfiction\, Brevity\, under the gum tree\, the Iron Horse Literary Review\, Hotel Amerika\, CALYX\, The Rumpus\, and Assay: A Journal of Nonfiction Studies. She teaches at Suffolk University in Boston.
URL:https://www.hippocampusmagazine.com/event/how-to-tuesday-writing-rage-in-enraging-times-with-amy-monticello/
LOCATION:Online (Zoom Webinar)
CATEGORIES:Craft,Hippo Organizing,How-to Tuesdays
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ORGANIZER;CN="Hippocampus Magazine and Books":MAILTO:hippocampusmagazine@gmail.com
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260815
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260817
DTSTAMP:20260627T143151
CREATED:20260614T005000Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260617T200102Z
UID:67321-1786752000-1786924799@www.hippocampusmagazine.com
SUMMARY:HippoCamp Online Weekend 2026: Multiple Events [Ticket Package Page]
DESCRIPTION: Registered attendees will get access to event recordings for 30 days\, with the exception of Deep Dives. \nHippoCamp Online Weekend\, the virtual version of our conference founded in 2015\, will include four separate webinar events\, plus evening “chill and chats\,” which will be informal Zoom meetings that allow registered attendees to connect and reflect. As an optional add-on\, there will be two Deep Dive sessions to choose from each day. \nAt a Glance: An Overview of the Weekend’s Events\nYou may register for events separately or purchase a weekend package on this page. A brief description and links to each individual event page are listed in this table. \n\n\n\nEVENT\nDAY & TIME\nall times are ET\nDETAILS & REGISTRATION\n\n\nHippoCamp Minis: Craft \nFive 10-minute sessions on craft-based topics specific or relevant to creative nonfiction. \nSaturday\, 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.\n$30\, register or see details here\n\n\nA Night of Nonfiction: Debut CNF Author Readers & Discussion \nReadings from debut authors\, plus a featured reader\, followed by a discussion and audience Q&A.\nSaturday\, 6-8 p.m.\nFree/Donate what-you-can ($10 suggested)\, register or see details here\n\n\nHippoCamp Minis: Publishing\, Promotion & the Writing Life \nFive 10-minute sessions on getting your work out there. \nSunday\, 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.\n$30\, register or see details here\n\n\nAn Evening with the Book Champions: A Publishing & Publicity Roundtable \nA moderated discussion with publicists and agents\, followed by an audience Q&A.\nSunday\, 6-8 p.m.\n$30\, register or see details here\n\n\nOPTIONAL ADD-ONS\n(Not part of weekend ticket package)\nDAY & TIME – all times are ET\nDETAILS & REGISTRATION\n\n\nDeep Dives  (purchase separately) \n90-minute\, interactive session in meeting format. Seating limited. These are live only\, not recorded. \nSaturday & Sunday\n2 to 3:30 p.m.\n($50 each; not part of weekend package; sharing here as FYI) \nSaturday\, Option 1\nScenes that Work: Choosing What Stays in Your Memoir & What Goes w/ Ronit Plank \nSaturday\, Option 2\nPostmarked: Modern Takes on the Ancient Art of Letters w/ Brenda Miller \nSunday\, Option 1\nMaking a Newsletter Work for You w/ Allison K Williams \nSunday\, Option 2\nMining Your Obsessions: Writing (Nearly) Endless Essays On One Subject w/ Elizabeth Austin\n\n\n\nPURCHASE WEEKEND PACKAGE TICKETS\nYou may purchase a ticket for the entire weekend on this page. You will get individual Zoom invites by for EACH webinar closer to the event. Note: First\, select quantity using (+) sign and then add to cart. \nIf you prefer to only attend one or two events\, you may purchase tickets a la carte at the individual page for each event\, linked above or see the full list at our main calendar page.
URL:https://www.hippocampusmagazine.com/event/hippocamp-online-weekend-2026-multiple-events-ticket-package-page/
LOCATION:Online (Zoom Webinar)
CATEGORIES:Community,Conference,Craft,Hippo Organizing,Marketing/Promotion,Online,Publishing,Reading
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.hippocampusmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/hippocamp-online.png
ORGANIZER;CN="Hippocampus Magazine and Books":MAILTO:hippocampusmagazine@gmail.com
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260815T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260815T123000
DTSTAMP:20260627T143151
CREATED:20260614T010250Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260623T035038Z
UID:67327-1786791600-1786797000@www.hippocampusmagazine.com
SUMMARY:HippoCamp Minis: CRAFT - 5 CNF Writing Topics in a Flash (2026)
DESCRIPTION:  Registration includes access to the recording for 30 days. \nSome conferences call these fast-paced events lightning round talks. In honor of the short CNF subgenre\, we call them flash sessions! These have always been a popular and fun part of our in-person HippoCamp: A Conference for Creative Nonfiction Writers and\, this year\, we’re once again bringing their magic online. \nIn our Saturday HippoCamp Minis sessions\, you’ll hear from five speakers who will share bite-sized wisdom with practical takeaways on a topic they’re passionate about\, all related to writing creative nonfiction. \nThis is ONE OF FOUR events we’re hosting the weekend of the 15-16th! Read about all of them here. \n\nAbout the Sessions & Speakers\nThis webinar will feature the following five flash sessions: \nDid You Get My (sub)Text? (Wendy Fontaine)\nWhen we write creative nonfiction\, there’s the story we want to tell and then there’s the story beneath the story. That’s where subtext comes in. Subtext is the underlying meaning that gives our writing depth and texture\, the unspoken clues and suggestions that allow our readers to connect the dots. In this flash session\, you will learn to: \n\ncreate layers using word choice\, detail\, and blank space\nstrengthen themes\, connotation\, and nuance\nfind balance between clarity and subtlety\n\n \nAbout the Speaker: Wendy Fontaine is the flash editor at Hippocampus Magazine. Her work has appeared in dozens of literary journals and magazines including Pithead Chapel\, Hippocampus Magazine\, Longridge Review\, Creative Nonfiction’s Sunday Reads\, Sweet Lit and Yemassee. She has received nonfiction prizes from Identity Theory\, Hunger Mountain and Tiferet Journal\, as well as nominations to the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net anthologies. A native New Englander\, she currently resides in southern California with her daughter and husband. \n\nMeasure Twice\, Cut Once: How to Edit Your Pieces Before Submission (Marissa Gallerani)\nEditors are said to have a keen eye\, but what happens when you want to use their skills before you submit your work? \nIn this talk focused on editing for writers\, Hippocampus contributor Marissa Gallerani will share her tips and tricks to polishing your pieces before submission. The session will: \n\nreview the importance of editing and explore how editing can improve a piece\nprovide tangible tips that writers can implement with their own work\ndefine different editing strategies for fiction and non-fiction pieces alike\nshare how to be your own best editor when no one else is around\n\nAttendees will leave feeling more confident about their own editing skills\, and with practical tips to use for their short and longform writing. \nAbout the Speaker: Marissa Gallerani is a queer and disabled writer\, living and working in Providence\, RI. She holds a MFA from the Newport MFA at Salve Regina University\, and has had featured publications in Hippocampus\, Write or Die\, and The Harvard Review Online\, among others. She has taught at Salve Regina University\, the New England Institute of Technology\, Write or Die\, and has courses forthcoming this year with Elegant Literature. \nMarissa writes The Chaotic Reader newsletter on Substack\, where she details the life of a working writer by interviewing authors\, and analyzes literature through the lens of political science. A book club dropout who loves fantasy the most\, she will read anything and knows that reading books and buying books are two separate hobbies. \n\nWriters with ADHD: Throw Away the Rulebook (B.K. Jackson)\nWriting poses numerous challenges for people with ADHD\, and much of the problem stems from trying to follow advice that’s intended for neurotypical people. In this flash session you’ll learn to: \n\nunderstand how conventional wisdom and writing advice can hinder rather than help neurodivergent writers\nwork with your ADHD brain instead of against it\nrecognize the roadblocks ADHD builds and overcome or work around them\nharness those aspects of ADHD that boost creativity\n\n \nAbout the Speaker: B.K. (Kate) Jackson is an author; a developmental editor and certified book coach; and a journalist with bylines in HuffPost\, The Los Angeles Times\, The Sun\, SurvivorLit\, Whale Road Review\, Hippocampus Magazine\, WIRED and more. She earned a BA and an MA from UCLA. \nKate is the editor of the anthology Relative Strangers: Inheritance\, Identity\, and the Meaning of Kinship\, and founder and editor of Severance (severancemag.com)\, a magazine and community for adoptees and individuals who’ve discovered misattributed parentage. She’s revising a memoir about maternal abandonment and family secrets. She lives in Milford\, Pennsylvania. Find her at www.bkjacksonwriter.com and creativelyadhd.substack.com. \n\nProps as Prompts: How to Pull Story from Found Objects\, Artifacts\, & Photos (Leslie Lindsay)\nWhen writers hit the wall\, or otherwise burn out\, they may stare at the blinking cursor\, give up\, and walk away. What if you took yourself on a (focused) field trip\, instead? This session is aimed at delving into the physical archives\, items\, and places of your story. Hippocampus Magazine interviewer Leslie Lindsay shares tips from her research in writing a blended memoir about her Kentucky-born great-grandmother\, Cora Bell. These tips\, insights\, and ‘prompts using props\,’ will help you get deeper into your character\, your story\, and allow your intuition to surface. This session will: \n\ncover what to research in person using found objects\, maps\, photographs. (hint: you’ll get into story/character if you leave your desk and go out into the world)\noffer tips on allowing the subconscious to ‘do its thing’\nexplore how certain ‘found objects’ can act as a touchpoint on your writing desk\, and/or show up as a motif in your work\n\nAttendees will leave with ideas to revise existing (or create new!) material or deepen current work\, including historical fiction\, creative nonfiction\, essays\, and poetry. \nAbout the speaker: Leslie A. Lindsay is the author of Speaking of Apraxia: A Parents’ Guide to Childhood Apraxia of Speech. She has contributed to the anthology\, Becoming Real: Women Reclaim the Power of the Imagined Through Speculative Nonfiction. Leslie’s essays\, reviews\, poetry\, photography\, and interviews have appeared in The Millions\, DIAGRAM\, The Rumpus\, LitHub\, and On the Seawall\, among others. She holds a BSN from the University of Missouri-Columbia\, is a former Mayo Clinic child/adolescent psychiatric RN\,and an alumna of Kenyon Writer’s Workshop. Her work has been supported by Ragdale and Vermont Studio Center and  nominated for Best American Short Fiction. \n\nNarrative Medicine: Why the Chart Is Never the Whole Story (Renée K. Nicholson)\nWhat if the skills that make you a better writer could also make medicine more compassionate? Narrative medicine trains healthcare professionals\, patients\, caregivers\, educators\, and others to read and respond to the stories that surround illness and healing\,   often using the very tools you already bring to creative nonfiction. In this session\, Renée K. Nicholson explores where narrative medicine and creative nonfiction meet\, and why that intersection matters. This session will: \n\nintroduce narrative medicine and examine how close reading and reflective writing function as tools for witness and understanding\nexplore how creative nonfiction writers are uniquely positioned to contribute to this growing field\nconsider how narrative medicine’s core questions can deepen and expand your own work on the page\n\nAbout the Speaker: Renée K. Nicholson is a writer working across poetry\, essays\, fiction\, and criticism. She holds a BA from Butler University\, an MFA from West Virginia University\, and a certificate in narrative medicine from Columbia University. The author of six books\, including the poetry collection FEVERDREAM\, the memoir-in-essays FIERCE AND DELICATE and a début novel under contract\, her work has appeared in over 100 publications\, among them The Gettysburg Review\, Bellevue Literary Review\, and River Teeth. A member of the National Book Critics Circle and a 2026 Artist-in-Residence at the Château d’Orquevaux in France\, she left academia in 2024 to write full time and lives in Morgantown\, West Virginia. \n\n\nTICKET OPTIONS\nYou may purchase a ticket for just this event ($30) below\, or register for the entire weekend\, here ($75).
URL:https://www.hippocampusmagazine.com/event/hippocamp-minis-craft-2026/
LOCATION:Online (Zoom Webinar)
CATEGORIES:Conference,Craft,Hippo Organizing,Online
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ORGANIZER;CN="Hippocampus Magazine and Books":MAILTO:hippocampusmagazine@gmail.com
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260815T140000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260815T153000
DTSTAMP:20260627T143151
CREATED:20260617T014110Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260623T035323Z
UID:67409-1786802400-1786807800@www.hippocampusmagazine.com
SUMMARY:Deep Dive: Postmarked: Modern Takes on the Ancient Art of Letters (Brenda Miller)
DESCRIPTION:Deep Dives are intensive/generative 90-minute workshops\, with two options to choose from each day during HippoCamp Weekend; these are NOT included in the main ticket package and require separate registration. Registration is limited to 20 attendees; we suggest signing up early.   This format is intentionally designed to be live; it will not be recorded.  \n\nAbout the Session\nRemember the joy of finding a handwritten letter in your mailbox? Letters used to be our primary form of communication\, but they’ve fallen out of favor in the technology age. In this hands-on workshop\, we’ll: \n\nexplore the literary power of letter writing in our modern lives\nexamine how authors often used letters to elucidate not only their everyday lives but also to grapple with the complexities of their work\nstudy contemporary authors\, who employ the letter form as a structural device for their stories. We’ll even turn to oral storytelling in podcasts such as This American Life and Letters Live!\nanalyze how writers use the letter form to create intimacy\, reveal historical context as well as personal details\, and provide a container for difficult subjects\n\nIn a supportive\, encouraging environment\, participants will then engage in short\, guided writing exercises designed to draft personal stories in letter form. These could be real letters one would send to a particular recipient\, or they might be autobiographical essays using the letter form as a literary device. \nAbout the speaker: \nBrenda Miller’s most recent book is Love You\, Bye: A Daughter’s Journey in Essays and Poems (Skinner House Books\, 2026). She is the author of six essay collections\, including A Braided Heart: Essays on Writing and Form. She co-wrote\, with Suzanne Paola\, the popular textbook Tell it Slant\, and her work has received seven Pushcart Prizes. \n\n\nTICKET INFO\nYou may register for this event a la carte\, independent of the full HippoCamp Online Weekend. (But if you would like to attend other sessions or the entire event\, you can learn more here.) \nThis session is limited to 20 attendees for optimal engagement with speaker and each other; we suggest signing up as early as possible to secure your seat. Note: Deep Dives are using the Zoom meeting format where all attendees will be on screen. 
URL:https://www.hippocampusmagazine.com/event/deep-dive-brenda-miller/
LOCATION:Online (Zoom Webinar)
CATEGORIES:Conference,Craft,Hippo Organizing
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.hippocampusmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/deep-dives-500-x-500-px.png
ORGANIZER;CN="Hippocampus Magazine and Books":MAILTO:hippocampusmagazine@gmail.com
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260815T140000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260815T153000
DTSTAMP:20260627T143151
CREATED:20260617T015134Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260617T195657Z
UID:67412-1786802400-1786807800@www.hippocampusmagazine.com
SUMMARY:Deep Dive: Scenes That Work: Choosing What Stays in Your Memoir & What Goes (Ronit Plank)
DESCRIPTION:Deep Dives are intensive/generative 90-minute workshops\, with two options to choose from each day during HippoCamp Weekend; these are NOT included in the main ticket package and require separate registration. Registration is limited to 20 attendees; we suggest signing up early.   This format is intentionally designed to be live; it will not be recorded.  \n\nAbout the Session\nThe heartbeat of a memoir is a mind at work trying to make sense of what we’ve experienced and why it matters now. As memoirists our job isn’t merely to report the circumstances we endured but create gripping narratives that keep readers invested and turning the page. In this session we’ll work with tools and generative prompts to help you write scenes that amplify the stakes\, tension\, and resonance in your memoir. \nThis session will help memoirists: \n\ncraft a map of key events that belong in their memoir\ndeepen the emotional and psychological dynamics in their pages\nwrite scenes that create propulsive narrative arcs\nexperiment with potential structures for their project\n\nAbout the speaker: \nRonit Plank is a writer\, teacher\, and editor whose work has appeared in The Atlantic\, Poets & Writers\, The Rumpus\, Hippocampus\, River Teeth’s Beautiful Things\, The New York Times\, and elsewhere\, earning Best of the Net\, Best Microfiction\, and Pushcart Prize nominations. \nHer first book is the memoir When She Comes Back\, her second the story collection Home is a Made-Up Place. She’s CNF editor at The Citron Review\, teaches memoir widely\, and hosts the podcast and Substack Let’s Talk Memoir featuring interviews with memoirists about their creative process and writing life. Find her across social media at: @RonitPlank. \n\n\nTICKET INFO\nYou may register for this event a la carte\, independent of the full HippoCamp Online Weekend. (But if you would like to attend other sessions or the entire event\, you can learn more here.) \nThis session is limited to 20 attendees for optimal engagement with speaker and each other; we suggest signing up as early as possible to secure your seat. Note: Deep Dives are using the Zoom meeting format where all attendees will be on screen. 
URL:https://www.hippocampusmagazine.com/event/deep-dive-scenes-ronit-plank/
LOCATION:Online (Zoom Webinar)
CATEGORIES:Conference,Craft,Hippo Organizing,Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.hippocampusmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/deep-dives-500-x-500-px.png
ORGANIZER;CN="Hippocampus Magazine and Books":MAILTO:hippocampusmagazine@gmail.com
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260815T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260815T200000
DTSTAMP:20260627T143151
CREATED:20260614T011647Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260623T035124Z
UID:67335-1786816800-1786824000@www.hippocampusmagazine.com
SUMMARY:A Night of Nonfiction 2026: Debut CNF Author Readings & Discussions
DESCRIPTION: Registration includes access to the recording for 30 days. \nThis is the online version of our ever-popular in-person event\, which was first held in the summer of 2015 at our inaugural HippoCamp: A Conference for Creative Nonfiction! \nThis event will feature readings from a group of debut CNF authors\, followed by a special guest reading and then a panel discussion and audience Q&A. Learn more about (or purchase!) their books at our Bookshop affiliate site (coming soon). \nThis is ONE OF FOUR main events we’re hosting the weekend of the 15-16th! Read about all of them here. \n\nThe 2026 Night of Nonfiction will feature:\n[Additional authors and moderator to be confirmed soon] \nCourtney Kocak\nCourtney Kocak is a writer\, podcaster\, and comedian who splits time between Austin and Los Angeles. She wrote for Amazon’s Emmy-winning animated series Danger & Eggs and Netflix’s Know It All. She’s produced a slew of highly-ranked podcasts and currently hosts three of her own with over two million downloads to date. Her bylines include The New York Times\, The Cut\, The Washington Post\, The Los Angeles Times\, Cosmopolitan\, Slate\, Business Insider\, and more. Her debut memoir\, Girl Gone Wild\, with Trio House Press\, is out now! For more\, check out her website at courtneykocak.com. \n\nAmanda McCracken\nAmanda McCracken is the author of When Longing Becomes Your Lover. She is an award-winning journalist passionate about experiences that highlight the intersection of wellness\, travel\, and relationships. Her work has appeared in The New York Times\, Washington Post\, Guardian\, Vogue\, National Geographic\, Runner’s World\, and many others. \nAmanda published her first article about longing in 2013\, which led to additional articles featuring personal anecdotes and deep research and interviews with the BBC\, Katie Couric\, and USA Today. Her 2023 TED Talk\, “How Longing Keeps Us From Healthy Relationships\,” and her podcast\, The Longing Lab\, highlight how longing can become self sabotaging and shares how to change our patterns of longing. To learn more\, visit her website:  www.amandajmccracken.com. \n\nShanda McManus\nShanda McManus\, MD\, is a physician and writer whose work lives at the intersection of medicine\, memory\, and the stories we carry in our bodies. A 2021 PEN America Emerging Voices Fellow and 2023 Baldwin For The Arts Fellow\, her debut memoir\, Brother Epistles: A Sister’s Memoir (Split/Lip Press; June 2026)\, is a series of letters to her late brother Monir. A book about grief\, Black family love\, and the structures that took him. Jacqueline Woodson writes that it will “grab your heart\, hold it gently\, then hand it lovingly back to you.” \n\nFEATURED GUEST READER – Brenda Miller\nBrenda Miller’s most recent book is Love You\, Bye: A Daughter’s Journey in Essays and Poems (Skinner House Books\, 2026). She is the author of six essay collections\, including A Braided Heart: Essays on Writing and Form. She co-wrote\, with Suzanne Paola\, the popular textbook Tell it Slant\, and her work has received seven Pushcart Prizes. \n(Brenda is also leading a Deep Dive session on Saturday afternoon called Postmarked: Modern Takes on the Ancient Art of Letters.) \n\n  \n\nTICKET OPTIONS\nYou may reserve a ticket for just this event by making a donation of any size (including a free ticket) OR you may register for the entire weekend\, here ($75).
URL:https://www.hippocampusmagazine.com/event/a-night-of-nonfiction-2026/
LOCATION:Online (Zoom Webinar)
CATEGORIES:Conference,Hippo Organizing,Online,Reading
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ORGANIZER;CN="Hippocampus Magazine and Books":MAILTO:hippocampusmagazine@gmail.com
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260816T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260816T123000
DTSTAMP:20260627T143151
CREATED:20260614T010818Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260623T035133Z
UID:67331-1786878000-1786883400@www.hippocampusmagazine.com
SUMMARY:HippoCamp Minis: Publishing\, Promotion & the Writing Life- 5 CNF Topics in a Flash (2026)
DESCRIPTION:  Registration includes access to the recording for 30 days. \nSome conferences call these fast-paced events lightning round talks. In honor of the short CNF subgenre\, we call them flash sessions! These have always been a popular and fun part of our in-person HippoCamp: A Conference for Creative Nonfiction Writers and\, this year\, we’re once again bringing their magic online. \nIn our Sunday HippoCamp Minis sessions\, you’ll hear from five speakers who will share bite-sized wisdom with practical takeaways on a topic they’re passionate about\, all related to promoting and publishing creative nonfiction (and yourself!)\, as well as living your best writing life. \nThis is ONE OF FOUR events we’re hosting the weekend of the 15-16th! Read about all of them here. \n\nAbout the Sessions & Speakers\nThis webinar will feature the following five flash sessions: \nThe Personal Essay Is Not Dead: How to Get Yours Noticed by Editors in a Relentless News Cycle (Lauren DePino)\nIt’s true that it’s more difficult than ever to publish personal essays in mainstream venues. And yet\, editors still want to publish them. In this talk\, I will share tips on how to get the attention of editors with your personal essay pitches and drafts. This session will: \n\nOffer tips on pitching the right essay at the right time to maximize its chance of publication\nShare strategies for forging long-term relationships with editors who want to go to bat for you again and again\nCover how to find the right publication and vertical for your personal essay and what elements this essay should have to increase your chances of publication\nExplore how pitching personal essays is a long game and somewhat like dating\nDiscuss pros and cons of writing pitches vs. full drafts\nShare the secret of how being rejected by my favorite column for years\, which I eventually landed\, inadvertently helped me publish in many other top venues\n\n  \nAbout the Speaker:  Lauren is a Philly-raised\, New Mexico-based freelance writer who has been publishing essays since she started writing for the Bucks County Courier Times’ teenage-run page when she was 14. In her 20s and early 30s\, she was head writer for a communications firm that partnered with mission-based organizations. Now she freelances all over the place\, and has published essays in The New York Times\, Washington Post\, CNN\, NPR\, BBC Travel\, and elsewhere. Lauren coaches essay writing\, writes music\, and sings. She is at work on a memoir about her decades of funeral singing\, which she’s writing with the editorial guidance of her agent. \n\nIf You Build It\, They Will Come: Creating and Producing Fabulous Live Literary Events You Want to See in the World! (Amy Eaton)\nBeing part of a live literary event is a hugely gratifying way to up your literary citizenship and community. And it’s fun! Whether or not you’re the type to emcee an event or perform\, \nthere’s a role for you to get involved in your local events\, or even better expand the artistic community with new ones! \n\nWe’ll go over the basics of getting a show running from the idea in your brain to a show—with actual people!\nWeird is good! How to find “I’d pay to see that!” and then make it happen!\nCurating your readers\, or tellers\, or bellydancers\, or dulcimer players.\nVenues and tickets and marketing\, oh my!\nAvoiding burnout so you can keep on doing this (because like all art\, it’s fun but it is WORK)\n\nAbout the Speaker: Amy Eaton co-hosts MissSpoken\, Chicago’s best Lady Live Lit show. She is a veteran Write Club Chicago combatant with six victories. Amy has read for Chirp Radio’s First Time as well as Voicebox\, Tuesday Funk\, Louder Than a Mom\, and You’re Being Ridiculous at Steppenwolf Theater. A trained actor and dancer and self-taught musician\, she can be found unleashing her inner performance artist at 20×2 Chicago. \nAmy has taught workshops on Live Lit\, Creative Writing\, Theater and ASL. She has produced\, directed\, and performed in fringe theater and solo performances both short and long. Amy co-founded Nature of the Beast\, an experimental theater company with Deaf and hearing actors as well as founding and serving as artistic director for Mudlark Theater Company\, now in their 21st year. \n\nFinding + Keeping Your Creative Spark: The Artist Date (Renée Reese)\nIn this session\, focused on igniting (or re-igniting) your creative spark\, writer Renee Reese will guide creatives in tools to heal from burnout and inspire new art. One simple way to nurture creativity is by going on an Artist Date\, an intentional solo experience designed to connect with your inner creative. Popularized by Julia Cameron in The Artist’s Way\, an Artist Date  is described as “a block of time\, perhaps two hours weekly\, especially set aside and committed to nurturing your creative consciousness\, your inner artist. In its most primary form\, the Artist Date is an excursion\, a play date…” This session will: \n\nHelp you find nontraditional ways to get your creative spark back\nGive you ideas for simple\, accessible Artist Dates you can try (including free and low-cost options)\nShare tips for overcoming burnout\, writer’s block\, and creative frustration\nHelp you create a sustainable creative practice\n\nWhether you consider yourself a creative or someone who just wants to feel inspired again\, this session will be a playful invitation to exploring your inner artist. \nAbout the Speaker: Renée Reese is a lawyer\, creative nonfiction writer\, and New York native. She is an alum of the Kenyon Review Residential Writers Workshop\, and her work has appeared in Huffpost. She runs The Creative Year publication on Substack\, which chronicles her journey as an artist. When she’s not reading or writing\, you can find her dancing\, painting\, or in a New York City coffee shop\, daydreaming about her next project. \n\nHow to Build Your Audience Through Substack (Liz Charlotte Grant)\nFull session and speaker details forthcoming. \n\nTBA Session\nFull session and speaker details forthcoming. \n\n\nTICKET OPTIONS\nYou may purchase a ticket for just this event ($30) below\, or register for the entire weekend\, here ($75).
URL:https://www.hippocampusmagazine.com/event/hippocamp-minis-publishing-2026/
LOCATION:Online (Zoom Webinar)
CATEGORIES:Conference,Hippo Organizing,Marketing/Promotion,Online,Publishing
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ORGANIZER;CN="Hippocampus Magazine and Books":MAILTO:hippocampusmagazine@gmail.com
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260816T140000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260816T153000
DTSTAMP:20260627T143151
CREATED:20260617T021429Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260623T035153Z
UID:67421-1786888800-1786894200@www.hippocampusmagazine.com
SUMMARY:Deep Dive: Making a Newsletter Work for You (Allison K Williams)
DESCRIPTION:Deep Dives are intensive/generative 90-minute workshops\, with two options to choose from each day during HippoCamp Weekend; these are NOT included in the main ticket package and require separate registration. Registration is limited to 20 attendees; we suggest signing up early.   This format is intentionally designed to be live; it will not be recorded.  \n\nAbout the Session\nWriters need direct contact with their audience more than ever before. But how can a newsletter be part of your creative life instead of a drag on your time? Learn how writing a newsletter feeds your creative process\, develops your craft\, and creates literary community — no matter how many people are on your list. \n(Note: We will not dive into specific newsletter platforms on a technical level\, this is about mindset\, writing\, and big-picture best practices). \nThis session will cover: \n\nHow regularity feeds your writing as well as building audience\nWhat to do when no-one is listening\nNewsletters are flash essays—key craft techniques that make people open the email\nRepurposing your stories across platforms\nHow to teach yourself that your newsletter isn’t pushy\, selfish\, or sales-y.\n\nAllison will also look at samples of your newsletters (submitted in advance) and live-edit to make them both better newsletters and your best writing. \nAbout the speaker: \nAllison K Williams is the author of Seven Drafts: Self-Edit Like a Pro From Blank Page to Book. She has helped 30+ authors find their agents\, and edited and coached writers to publishing deals with Penguin Random House\, Knopf\, Mantle\, Spencer Hill\, and St. Martin’s Press as well as literary and university presses. \nShe’s guided essayists and humorists to publication in media including the New Yorker\, Time\, the Guardian\, the New York Times\, McSweeney’s\, Refinery29\, Hippocampus\, the Belladonna and TED Talks. \nAs social media editor for Brevity\, she inspires thousands of writers with weekly blogs on craft and the writing life. Her Substack\, Adventures in Writing\, and Newsletter\, The A-List\, total 17\,000+ subscribers. \n\n\nTICKET INFO\nYou may register for this event a la carte\, independent of the full HippoCamp Online Weekend. (But if you would like to attend other sessions or the entire event\, you can learn more here.) \nThis session is limited to 20 attendees for optimal engagement with speaker and each other; we suggest signing up as early as possible to secure your seat. Note: Deep Dives are using the Zoom meeting format where all attendees will be on screen.
URL:https://www.hippocampusmagazine.com/event/deep-dive-newsletter-alllison-k-williams/
LOCATION:Online (Zoom Webinar)
CATEGORIES:Conference,Hippo Organizing,Marketing/Promotion,Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.hippocampusmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/deep-dives-500-x-500-px.png
ORGANIZER;CN="Hippocampus Magazine and Books":MAILTO:hippocampusmagazine@gmail.com
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260816T140000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260816T153000
DTSTAMP:20260627T143151
CREATED:20260617T022231Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260623T035206Z
UID:67424-1786888800-1786894200@www.hippocampusmagazine.com
SUMMARY:Deep Dive: Mining Your Obsessions: Writing (Nearly) Endless Essays On One Subject (Elizabeth Austin)
DESCRIPTION:Deep Dives are intensive/generative 90-minute workshops\, with two options to choose from each day during HippoCamp Weekend; these are NOT included in the main ticket package and require separate registration. Registration is limited to 20 attendees; we suggest signing up early.   This format is intentionally designed to be live; it will not be recorded.  \n\nAbout the Session\nWe all have obsessions: the subjects\, relationships\, and questions we can’t stop writing toward\, whether we mean to or not. In this generative workshop\, we’ll treat these topics as a renewable resource. Through a structured exploration\, you’ll dig into the patterns hiding in your existing work — recurring images\, emotional landscapes — and turn them into a visual thematic map you can mine for years. \nIn this session\, writers will: \n\nexcavate patterns\, working to surface recurring images\, tensions\, and questions.\nbuild personal thematic maps\, placing a core focus at the center with 3–5 satellite themes radiating out\, then spotting the intersections where unexpected new essays are born.\ngenerate at least five fresh essay ideas using six concrete strategies\, plus tactics for matching themes to submission calls\nstudy how the pros do it\, looking at writers who’ve mined the same territory for decades across forms and genres\n\nOpen to writers at all levels\, whether you’re assembling an essay collection\, hunting for the through line in a memoir\, or simply tired of feeling like you write “the same things.” No pre-class reading required. \nAbout the speaker: \n  \nElizabeth Austin’s writing has appeared in The New York Times\, TIME\, Harper’s Bazaar\, Electric Literature\, Narratively\, McSweeney’s\, and others. She has been awarded residencies including Sewanee\, Hedgebrook\, and Turning Points. She holds an M.F.A. from Vermont College of Fine Arts\, writes a newsletter on her writing and post-cancer family life\, and lives outside of Philly with her two kids and many pets. \n\n\nTICKET INFO\nYou may register for this event a la carte\, independent of the full HippoCamp Online Weekend. (But if you would like to attend other sessions or the entire event\, you can learn more here.) \nThis session is limited to 20 attendees for optimal engagement with speaker and each other; we suggest signing up as early as possible to secure your seat. Note: Deep Dives are using the Zoom meeting format where all attendees will be on screen.
URL:https://www.hippocampusmagazine.com/event/deep-dive-mining-your-obsessions-elizabeth-austin/
CATEGORIES:Craft,Hippo Organizing,Online,Publishing
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.hippocampusmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/deep-dives-500-x-500-px.png
ORGANIZER;CN="Hippocampus Magazine and Books":MAILTO:hippocampusmagazine@gmail.com
LOCATION:https://www.hippocampusmagazine.com/event/deep-dive-mining-your-obsessions-elizabeth-austin/
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260816T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260816T200000
DTSTAMP:20260627T143151
CREATED:20260614T012550Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260623T035221Z
UID:67338-1786903200-1786910400@www.hippocampusmagazine.com
SUMMARY:An Evening with the Book Champions: A Publishing & Publicity Roundtable
DESCRIPTION: Registered attendees will get access to event recordings for 30 days. \nJoin us for an evening of all things CNF publishing and publicity. This year\, we’re putting a new spin on what we typically called An Evening with the Editors. We’re still focusing on book champions\, but we’re centering the conversation on what agents are looking for — and how to get your book noticed with the help of an in-house or independent publicist. \nHippocampus Magazine associate editor Rae Pagliarulo will moderate a discussion with a group of publicists\, literary agents\, and other publishing professionals. You will: \n\nget a behind-the-scenes look at the book submissions process\nfind out what they’re looking for their respective lists and agencies\ndiver into the writer-agent and writer-publicist relationship\nexplore a timeline for book publicity\nlearn the various moving parts of a book marketing/publicity campaign\n….and so much more\n\nThere will be plenty of time for audience questions at the end. \nThis is ONE OF FOUR main events we’re hosting the weekend of the 15-16th! Read about all of them here. \n\nMeet Our Panelists\n[Additional authors and moderator to be confirmed soon] \nMichelle Blankenship\nMichelle Blankenship spent 16 years as an in-house publicist working at John Wiley & Sons\, Picador USA\, Harcourt Trade Publishers\, and Bloomsbury Publishing specializing in literary fiction\, poetry\, and a variety of nonfiction topics. During her time as an in-house publicist\, she served as director of publicity for Harcourt and as an associate director of publicity at Bloomsbury. She has worked with Jesmyn Ward\, Eimear McBride\, Barney Frank\, Martha S. Jones\, Senator Sherrod Brown\, Ana Castillo\, James Forman Jr.\, Drew Gilpin Faust\, and Mitchell S. Jackson\, among others. Blankenship has also been on the board of the Publishers Publicity Association (PPA) since 2007\, and she currently serves as the PPA president. \n  \n\nAshley Lopez\nAshley Lopez is a literary agent at Massie McQuilkin & Altman Literary Agents with over a decade of publishing experience. She received her MFA in Fiction from Sarah Lawrence College and represents both adult fiction and nonfiction as well as select Young Adult and poetry titles. \n\nCassie Mannes Murray\nCassie Mannes Murray believes in cold emails and cold pizza. She is the founder and director of Pine State Publicity\, a publicity firm for independent and small press books. You can always find what she’s up to in the Pine State newsletter. Her mom calls it “weirdly rambling.” Before launching Pine State she was a literary agent\, earned her MFA in creative nonfiction\, designed book interiors\, edited for literary mags\, taught high school\, and once even worked as a laundromat drive-thru gal. When she isn’t talking books\, she’s a mom to three kids\, married to the guy she met on Myspace in high school\, and living under some big oaks in North Carolina. \n\nIsabella Nugent\nIsabella Nugent (she/her) is a senior publicist at Page One Media\, where she manages publicity campaigns for authors and experts across a wide range of subject areas\, including history\, philosophy\, sociology\, and more. Some of her recent campaigns include Relinquished by Gretchen Sisson\, a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction\, McNamara at War by Philip Taubman and William Taubman\, winner of the Barbara and David Zalaznick Book Prize in American History\, and Making the Presidency by Lindsay Chervinsky. \n  \n  \n\nTICKET OPTIONS\nYou may purchase a ticket for just this event ($30) below\, or register for the entire weekend\, here ($75).
URL:https://www.hippocampusmagazine.com/event/book-champions-2026/
LOCATION:Online (Zoom Webinar)
CATEGORIES:Conference,Hippo Organizing,Marketing/Promotion,Publishing
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.hippocampusmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/book-champions-event.png
ORGANIZER;CN="Hippocampus Magazine and Books":MAILTO:hippocampusmagazine@gmail.com
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