{"id":596,"date":"2018-12-31T13:01:14","date_gmt":"2018-12-31T13:01:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/?p=596"},"modified":"2018-12-31T13:01:14","modified_gmt":"2018-12-31T13:01:14","slug":"lone-star-listens-interviews-archive-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/?p=596","title":{"rendered":"LONE STAR LISTENS interviews\u00a0\u00a0 >> archive"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Kay Ellington, Editor and Publisher<\/span><\/p>\n

7.17.2016\u00a0 Lex Williford, El Paso writer and teacher, editor<\/h1>\n

Many of our readers are aspiring writers <\/span>\u2014 but with the day job they can\u2019t find the time or the way to write. In this week\u2019s issue Lone Star Listens visits with <\/span>Lex Williford, <\/span>who chairs the online creative writing MFA program at the University of Texas at El Paso. Williford is a prolific short story and short form author himself, and he discusses his writing life along with his academic life that embraces this one-of-a-kind writing program.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

LONE STAR LITERARY LIFE:<\/span> For the past decade you have lived in Texas, heading up the bilingual online MFA in creative writing program at the University of Texas at El Paso. Where did you grow up, and how did that influence your writing?<\/span><\/p>\n

LEX WILLIFORD:<\/span> First, let me clarify. Our on-campus MFA program is bilingual, but we have students who are primarily monolingual, in either English or Spanish. Our online MFA program mostly focuses on writing English, though we do have students writing in Spanish at times. I\u2019m teaching a screenwriting class this summer session, and one of the scripts we\u2019re reading is in Spanish\u2014a crossover student from our on-campus program taking an online class.<\/p>\n

I was born in El Paso, and I never expected that I might someday return. My father was stationed as a radar commander and a second lieutenant at Fort Bliss in the mid1950s, and I was born at Biggs Air Force Base when the Fort Bliss hospital was dealing with a diphtheria epidemic.<\/p>\n

My parents moved me at six months back to Dallas, where I grew up. That place, the place of my childhood, is often the setting of my stories; in many ways that Dallas no longer exists. I remember going to the Plano drive-in when Plano was nothing but farms and cotton fields. Now I drive through the town and there\u2019s nothing plain old about it \u2014 skyscrapers left and right for miles \u2014 as if I\u2019ve been thrown into a time warp.\u00a0 >>READ MORE<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT . . .<\/h1>\n

Lone Star Literary Life celebrates 2016 Texas Readers\u2019 Favorite Bookstores TOP TEN<\/h1>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Texas readers have spoken! <\/span>More than 1,000 of Lone Star Literary Life\u2019s readers have cast ballots in our statewide contest to recognize Texas\u2019s favorite bookstores. Their selections are as diverse as the state itself, and honorees include big indies, small indies, chain stores, used bookstores, and new bookstores in every far-flung corner of the state.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 From the shadows of Houston\u2019s skyscrapers to the winds whistling down the plains, from the Piney Woods of East Texas to the beachside burbs on the coast, Texas bookshops are connecting with their communities, and we are thrilled to have the opportunity to showcase Texas\u2019s Top Ten Favorite Bookstores. Today, we unveil the full results of your votes!\u00a0 >>READ MORE<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Texas’s only statewide, weekly calendar of book events<\/h1>\n

Bookish Texas<\/span> event highlights\u00a0 7.17.2016
<\/span>>><\/span><\/a><\/span> GO this week\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Michelle Newby, Contributing Editor<\/span><\/h1>\n

<\/p>\n

SPECIAL EVENTS AND FESTIVALS IN TEXAS THIS WEEK: Gemini Ink, Mayborn, Writers\u2019 League Retreat, and more<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>HOUSTON\u00a0\u00a0 Tues., July 19, Brazos Bookstore, David Todd discusses and signs THE TEXAS LANDSCAPE PROJECT, 7PM<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>DALLAS\u00a0 Wed., July 20, Horchow Auditorium, Arts & Letters Live! presents Chris Colfer, author of An Author\u2019s Odyssey, 7:30PM<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>AUSTIN\u00a0 Thurs., July 21, BookPeople, Writers’ League of Texas Third Thursday: Meet Your Match: Writing Groups, Critique Groups, Critique Partners, and More with Nikki Loftin, Karen McInerney, and Ron Seybold, 7PM<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>HOUSTON\u00a0 Thurs., July 21, Brazos Bookstore, Hemingday! annual celebration of Hemingway\u2019s birthday with Papa-themed cocktails, a beard-making station, and the triumphant return of the ever-popular drunk coloring, 7PM<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>AUSTIN\u00a0 Fri., July 22, BookPeople, Journalist BRONWEN DICKEY speaking & signing Pit Bull: The Battle Over an American Icon, 7PM<\/span><\/span><\/span>LUBBOCK\u00a0 Sat., July 23, B&N, West Texas Middleweight: The Story of Lavern Roach book signing with Frank Sikes, 1PM<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/span><\/span> <\/p>\n

News Briefs 7.17.16<\/h1>\n

Gemini Ink debuts conference in San Antonio, July 21\u201324, with Siebles, Kaplan, Hernandez, Grande, Santos, and others<\/h1>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/span>The 2016 Gemini Ink Writers Conference<\/span> will include four days of panels, round tables, readings, and workshops at El Tropicano Hotel on the San Antonio Riverwalk from July 21-24.<\/p>\n

The theme is the \u201cState of the Book,\u201d with a keynote address by Tom Payton of Trinity University Press. The featured writers are Tim Seibles, Janet Kaplan, Tim Z. Hernandez, Reyna Grande,<\/span> and John Phillip Santos<\/span>\u2014who will join more than thirty acclaimed local and regional writers and scholars, including Jan Jarboe Russell, Wendy Barker, <\/span>and Texas Poet Laureate Laurie Ann Guerrero.\u00a0 <\/span>>>READ MORE<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Writers\u2019 League of Texas announces 2016 manuscript contest winners and finalists<\/h1>\n

General Fiction<\/p>\n

Winner: Fieldings by Karen Stevenson<\/p>\n

Finalists:<\/p>\n

The Weight of Words Unspoken by Catherine Johnson<\/p>\n

The Secondaries by Tobey Forney<\/p>\n

Prayers for an Illegitimate God by Isabella Ides<\/p>\n

The Fruits of the Two Seasons by D.F. Salvador<\/p>\n

General Nonfiction<\/p>\n

Winner: Artist Proof: The Case Between Hannah Wilke and Claes Oldenburg by Saundra Goldman<\/p>\n

Finalists:<\/p>\n

Violently If They Must by Brian MacPherson<\/p>\n

The Spine of Our Choices by Allan Gerson<\/p>\n

David and the Little Giants: How a Battle over Technology Became a Battle for My Soul by David Barstow<\/p>\n

>>READ MORE<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference takes place July 22-23, Grapevine<\/h1>\n

Gilbert King<\/span> (Devil in the Grove<\/span>) and Sheryl WuDunn<\/span> (A Path Appears: Transforming Lives, Creating Opportunity<\/span>) will give keynote speeches at the Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference in Grapevine. Prices include dinner. Advance registration required; for more information visit\u00a0 www.themayborn.com\/registration.<\/p>\n

King: 5:30 p.m. July 22 at Austin Ranch banquet hall, 2009 Anderson Gibson Road. $60.<\/p>\n

WuDunn: 6 p.m. July 23 at Hilton DFW Lakes Executive Conference Center\u2019s International Ballroom, 1800 State Highway 26 East. $100.\u00a0 >>READ MORE<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

(Information and photos from organization’s press release and website)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kay Ellington, Editor and Publisher 7.17.2016\u00a0 Lex Williford, El Paso writer and teacher, editor Many of our readers are aspiring writers \u2014 but with the day job they can\u2019t find the time or the way to write. In this week\u2019s issue Lone Star Listens visits with Lex Williford, who chairs the online creative writing MFA […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-596","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/596","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=596"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/596\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=596"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=596"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=596"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}