2002 East of Eden Writers Conference
2002 was our first East of Eden Writers Conference
August 23 to 25, 2002, Salinas, CA
Our first logo. Original art
by Zenua Zhang
We came. We saw. We had a fantastic experience!
The conference began on August 23rd, Friday evening, at the National Steinbeck Center. Terry Ryan, author of How My MotherRaised Ten Kids on Twenty-five Words or Less let us peek into the process of her writer's journey. The motivating force behind her book, which later became a successful movie, was the memory of a truly amazing mother who's life was a magnet for serendipity. Everything Terry's mother did was just in time and thank heaven with that many children that she was so resourceful.
Luis Valdez, award winning director, playwright, and screenwriter ( Zoot Suit and La Bamba), rallied us to a standing ovation with his wealth of stories about his early life as a migrant worker, his wife Lupe, Cesar Chevaz and a story of his own mother who held her severely burned child on her stomach at night for six months so he could sleep.
It was an inspiring evening, especially for the winners of the conference writing contest who were announced Friday night
2002 contest winners
On Saturday, over 250 writers participated in our workshops.
We had 43 instructors and Keynote Speakers such as syndicated journalist and author, Sharon Randall, mystery writer and Agatha winner, Rhys Bowen, author RuthAnne Lum McCunn and critically acclaimed novelist, Catherine Ryan-Hyde, author of Pay it Forward.
Catherine told us "never stop submitting." She submitted a story to an editor at a publishing house and was rejected; then, five years later resubmitted and that same editor at the same publishing house accepted her story with no revisions.
Catherine Ryan-Hyde
Saturday night the party continued at the Ariel Theatre in Old Town Salinas.
Jas Lonnquist moderated a panel with Leslie Tryon, Rhys Bowen, Mark Coggins, Teresa Le Yung Ryan, Catherine Rountree and Catherine Ryan-Hyde.
Saturday dinner was followed by Night Owl sessions at the Laurel Inn. How did we manage to stay up that late after attending classes all day?
Sunday morning offered us brunch at the Steinbeck House.
This conference was everything we had hoped it would be and more. We couldn't wait for 2004.