Anne Lamott

One of my all-time favorite authors is Anne Lamott. She is one of the best story-tellers I have come across. Her stories speak the truth, beauty and pain of being a human trying to live with other humans while seeking a connection with God/Goddess. Her strength to be honest often leaves me daydreaming of the true, authentic life. I remember the evening when I devoured her book on writing, Bird by Bird, and felt the connection between her words and my creative spirit. They were warm, comforting and encouraging words that we expect to hear from our mothers. Yet, they were also the words that taught me “shitty first drafts”.

With that being said, you can understand my excitement in learning that Anne Lamott is coming to Richmond! She will be giving a lecture in early March. I know that is several months away, but you need to understand, this is ANNE LAMOTT!!!!!!! I will barely be able to sleep from now till March 5th.

Here are some details I received in an email:

Save the date!

The Sylvester Lecture: Faith, Writing, and Life Connections; An Evening
with Anne Lamott

Wednesday, March 5, 2008, 7:00 pm

The Office of the Chaplaincy at the University of Richmond will host
Anne Lamott Wednesday March 5. The event is FREE and open to the
public. Tickets will be made available through the Modlin Center Box
Office BEGINNING FEB. 11, 2008. If you need more information about the
event itself before Feb. 11, please contact Josh Dickerson in The Office
of the Chaplaincy at (804) 289-8500.

Anne Lamott is the author of six novels including, Hard Laughter,
Rosie, Joe Jones, All New People, and Crooked Little Heart (the sequel
to Rosie), as well as four bestselling books of nonfiction, Operating
Instructions, an account of life as a single mother during her son’s
first year and Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life, a
guide to writing and the challenges of a writer’s life, Traveling
Mercies, a collection of autobiographical essays on faith, and Plan B:
Further Thoughts on Faith. She has been honored with a Guggenheim
Fellowship, and has taught at UC Davis, as well as at writing
conferences across the country. Lamott’s biweekly Salon Magazine
online diary; Word by Word, was voted The Best of the Web by TIME
magazine. Filmmaker Freida Mock (who won an Academy Award for her
documentary on Maya Lin) has made a documentary on Lamott, entitled
Bird by Bird with Annie (1999). Anne Lamott’s next essay collection is
entitled Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith (March 2007).

Tags: Life, Reading, Spirituality, Writing