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Imaginarium ahoy!

Published by elizabethdonald_7o83t2 on July 13, 2023

I’m delighted to return to Imaginarium on its 10th anniversary, having attended nearly every Imaginarium since the first one (give or take a little pandemic.)

I’ll be giving my two-hour “business of writing” seminar on Friday afternoon, with several other panels in between running the Literary Underworld booth. LitUnd authors Jim Gillentine, Steven Shrewsbury, Sela Carsen, and Jennifer Mulvihill will be part of the fun!

Below is my schedule:

• Friday: 1:15 p.m. Business of Writing (two-hour workshop)

• Saturday: 11:30 a.m. Space operas

• Sunday: 10 a.m. Employment options for writers.

Saturday, of course, will be the Imadjinn Awards ceremony and banquet. I am a finalist for the Imadjinn film festival award for unproduced screenplay, and a nominee for the Knost Award, so cross your fingers for me!

We will also be opening the Literary Underworld Traveling Bar in our room on Friday and Saturday nights. Because of course we are.

If you’re in the Louisville area, please come by and join us! Imaginarium is always a lot of fun, and one of the conventions I enjoy attending to learn a little something more and talk with my fellow writers. If all that isn’t enough for you, the GOH is Terry Brooks!

See you in Louisville!
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And the winner is…

Published by elizabethdonald_7o83t2 on February 15, 2021
Me!

I’m pleased (almost) beyond words to announce I have been honored with the Mimi Zanger Award for fiction writing. This is an award granted by the English Department at Southern Illinois University, where I have begun my coursework for an MFA in creative writing (in case you’ve missed all the other references to my MFA here and on my Patreon …. somehow).

The story I submitted for the contest’s consideration was written in workshop last semester. My first inclination was to share it, of course. However, it is currently under submission to a literary magazine, and thus it would be inappropriate to publish. I sincerely hope I will be able to share it with you soon.

Near as I can tell, the award is named after the wife of Dr. Jules Zanger, a professor at SIUE before it even became the university we know it today. Dr. Zanger grew up in Brooklyn and fought in World War II, as did many of his generation. After the war, he earned his degrees and met Mary Proctor – known as Mimi – while finishing his PhD at Washington University in St. Louis. Like many academics, the Zangers bounced around from Ohio to Chicago and so on before moving to Alton, Ill. and settling at SIUE. Dr. Zanger taught at SIUE for 35 years, retiring as professor emeritus after receiving Fulbright grants to study in Brazil, France and Czechoslovakia.

Mimi died in 1991. Dr. Zanger continued with his research and extensive travels, eventually remarrying and relocating to Frankfurt, Germany, where he died in 2014. His obituary states that he was “a great lover of good books, good food, good wine, good music, and good conversation. He loved fine restaurants, but was also a skilled home chef, preparing many memorable meals for friends and family. He loved and frequently attended the opera, never understanding why everyone didn’t.”

When Dr. Zanger died, his survivors indicated that memorials should be made to the Mimi Zanger Award endowment, so that it could continue to support students like me who seek to explore the joys of the written word. It sounds like the Zangers would have been terrific people to know.

As I write this, I am playing Don Giovanni, in honor of the opera lovers, and hope that I can be worthy of their legacy. I am humbled and grateful for the honor and support of my mentors in the writing program, and look forward to all I have to learn from them.

Crossposted from DonaldMedia.com.
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