Gregory Maguire, Marion Zimmer Bradley, and William Kennedy were all born here. Herman Melville, Trevanian, and Kurt Vonnegut all lived here.

Then there are the rest of us not famous enough for our own Wikipedia page. That’s cool. Wikipedia doesn’t have the final say on our area’s vibrant writing scene. We have lots of great writing events, big and small, like the New York State Writers Institute and the activities put on by the Hudson Valley Writers Guild.

But I recently found out about two other events that are new to the area. And I would really hate to miss either one.

First up is Bouchercon 2013: A New York State of Crime. This is the world’s leading convention for crime fiction readers, writers and others. They’ll be honoring Sue Grafton, Anne Perry, Tess Gerritsen, Steve Hamilton and more, which will be terrific for their fans. Even as a writer, I find this exciting because even though I don’t write crime, per say, I think every story has an element of mystery in it. There is lots of great programming taking place. Bouchercon is happening next week, so be sure to register soon.

Next up is Haiku North America 2015, to be held at Union College in October 2015. Yes, I’m planning ahead here, but it’s the largest and oldest gathering of haiku poets in the United States. If you are into this sort of thing, which I am, this is terribly exciting news.

I’ll also throw in a mention of Fantacon, if horror & comics are more up your alley. I found out about it at the press conference for Bouchercon. Posing with zombies make for a fun photo for this blog entry, but my friends know that I can’t sit through ten minutes of a horror film (remind me to tell you the silverware story sometime). A visit to the website is worth it, if just to see Major Jerry Jennings’s smiling mug sandwiched between a dinosaur and the faces of stabmovies.com.