Winter Turns Into Spring

Ongoing travel + Tucson Festival of Books

Hi everyone,

It’s been quite a couple of weeks over here. Most excitingly, I got to pay my first-ever visit to Rochester in late February, to give a talk there and meet students at RIT/NTID.

The Deaf community in Rochester is really special. I knew this already, just from chatting with many people over the years, including several friends of mine who went to RIT themselves. But it was wonderful to pay my own pilgrimage to upstate New York, even in the frigid gloom of February. (Rochester is a real deaf mecca: this small city is home to one of the largest per capita deaf populations in the United States, if not the actual largest.)

I didn’t get to see much of Rochester beyond the RIT campus, just since it was a quick visit and I was there for work, but the highlight was getting to spend time with some very neat people, both old faces and new ones. I also really enjoyed seeing the current Robert Panara exhibit at the library: Panara is quoted in my own book, and his influence as a poet and educator is immense.

Also, check out this other bright library wall filled with paintings by the acclaimed artist Nancy Rourke. There was so much heritage, history, and art to absorb across campus, and plenty of cool people to tell me about it all.

I already know I’m going to have to make a return visit at some point, to see more of the area and meet even more people, hopefully in the warmer months. Big thanks to everyone at NTID who made this trip possible.

Right after getting back home from Rochester, though, life got much less exciting. My trusty laptop gave up the ghost, after nearly 10 years of letting me plunk my words into its keyboard, and I got hit with an icky cold. Perks of traveling during winter, though my convalescence did give me the chance to catch up on some reading. (Two thumbs up for Arundathi Roy’s new book Mother Mary Comes to Me.)

Now that I’m feeling a little more human again, and now that I also have my new MacBook and am getting all set up, I’m warding off all the new built-in AI tools that Apple wants me to use in my work and everyday life. Also not very exciting.

This AI stuff really can feel like the onslaught of the machines. No, I do not want any of these AI assistants to “help” me when I’m writing my emails or ongoing projects or anything else. I like the way my brain feels, and I like my own processes of figuring out how to say things. Cue an AI-related rant on this newsletter one day soon.

But now to the real point of today’s newsletter: I am headed to Tucson this weekend for my first-ever book festival as an author.

The Tucson Festival of Books is one of the largest book festivals in the country, and it looks like it’s going to be terrific. If you live anywhere near Tucson, or if you know anyone else who does, please come out and say hello!

I’ll be on two panels this weekend, one on Saturday afternoon and one on Sunday. The Tucson Festival of Books website has more information about participating authors, scheduling, sessions, additional events, and more.

I’ve only been to one book festival before as an attendee, the Decatur Book Festival when I lived in Georgia. That was always an amazing event, and now I’m excited to go join the folks out in Arizona for more conversations about books.

Once I get back from Tucson, I’m looking forward to some more events coming up soon, including a visit back to Stanford (my alma mater!) in early April. More on that next time. Also go check out my website events page for more details on where I’ll be next.

Many thanks to everyone who continues to support my work in both large and small ways. I continue to really enjoy this journey. I still never look at my Amazon or Goodreads pages, which has been just fine with me, but if you’ve read and enjoyed Articulate at any point during the past six months, please go leave a review there or on any of the other reading-oriented sites you prefer!

Such details matter to the algorithm, I guess, and to our encroaching AI overlords. But regardless, I do appreciate the help in connecting with more different readers. More on the other side of this visit to (the other side of) the desert Southwest.