Narrativity Take 2 – a review

It has been 10 months since I last posted here. The question of “do I even blog anymore?” is a legitimate one. (And one I hope I can answer with a yes, going forward.) What can bring me back to the blog after 10 months away? Why, Narrativity, of course. I recommend you go read my review of the first Narrativity, because pretty much everything I had to say then is still true.

Narrativity is a conference about storytelling. Much of the focus is on novels and short stories, but the goal is to bring in all forms of storytelling – theater, television/movies, video games, art, dance, music, etc. Story is inherent to the human condition, and talking about the myriad of ways we tell and share stories (and how we can be better at it), is the point of Narrativity.

The conference continues to be run by and attract some of the most amazing people I have ever met. There were concerns this year, with having taken a year off, the rise of the Delta variant, and the impacts of the pandemic, that the conference would have to be called off last minute or not reach critical mass for success. It was a smaller conference than the first one, with just under 50 of us present. This was only a drop-off of about 20 folks from the first year.

Sadly, we permanently lost a few of our Narrativity family over the last two years, and we started the conference with a moment of silence for them. Others did not feel they could travel and attend safely, given their situations, and those decisions were certainly the right ones for them. They were greatly missed.

But once again, it was the attendees that made this conference so amazing. Both the folks I got to renew acquaintances with and the new people I met, just made it feel like I was spending the long weekend hanging out with friends who all love storytelling as much as I do. Please do not get me wrong, the panels are great, but they mostly serve as a jumping-off point for deeper discussions after the panels. Some of the discussions are arguments, and that is welcomed. The folks who get into the arguments tend to love arguing and everyone is okay with not bringing the other person over to their point of view exactly.

This year, I spoke on a panel about rediscovering joy in writing, something I am actively trying to do (and will hopefully result in my writing more here again). I also ended up in a volunteer position of writing the list of books mentioned during the conference on the whiteboard. And then I ended up volunteering for a slightly larger role in helping get the conference up and going next year. (And for those of you who read this and think “I want to go, but Labor Day weekend just does not work for me”, next year it will be a different weekend! The goal is to make it a “movable feast” so that the same people do not have the same conflicts every year.)

I did not have the novella I mentioned in the last review completed by this Narrativity, even though I had two years instead of one, but I am close and hope to finish it soon. But just as with the last one, I left feeling inspired to write and in love with this community.

So thank you again to everyone involved in putting Narrativity together and everyone who came. You are amazing. And I cannot wait to see you again.