Schedule for Wendy Van Camp
Appearances in Descending Order
SFWA Quarterly Poetry Open Mic (Virtual)
Saturday, January 24th at 11:00am Pacific Time
Host: Gwynne Garfinkle
Featured Poet: Linda A. Addison
https://events.sfwa.org/upcoming-events/
To find the Zoom link, go to the SFWA Events page for listing. Please do not share the link with the general public. This Zoom event is free for members of SFWA or Nebula attendees with an interest in poetry. Bring a poem or two to read, hear our featured poet, and hang out afterwards.
Our featured poet will be recorded and streamed to the SFWA events page where it will be available as a membership only view. After a month, the recording will be made available on the SFWA YouTube Channel, free to the public. I will be part of the open mic, reading one or two of my original poems to the audience. As co-chair of the poetry committee, I support the open mic by taking care of the paperwork and serving as liaison with the SFWA admin for this project.
Octavia’s Open Mic – Featured Reading
Second Life
Open Mic at Octavia’s Coffeehouse
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Clearwing/74/101/34
February 1st, 2026
12pm – 1:00pm STL (Second Life Time = Pacific Time)
Indigo Starling (aka Wendy Van Camp) will be the featured poet at this Saturday weekly open mic. Come hear a mix of her literary and speculative poetry in a coffeehouse setting. Bring your own poetry to read to the audience during the open mic portion of the program.
Octavia’s is a diverse, inclusive, eclectic coffee house & bar , in honour of the visionary science fiction author Octavia E.Butler. All welcome !
Gallifrey One
LAX Airport Marriot
Los Angeles, CA
February 6th – 8th
Ticket is required for entry
I am back in the dealer room selling and autographing my books and poetry artwork. I should still have an assortment of my handmade jewelry available. This may be my only jewelry event for the year, so if you are a fan of my metalwork, please stop by.
Read Across America
February 24th
Price Elementary
Anaheim, CA
I will read to two classes of elementary school students and talk to the young scholars about haiku poetry. This event is not open to the public.
The Open Page @ Sonder Books
March 14th at noon
Featured Reading by “Indigo Starling” aka Wendy Van Camp
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Cerulean%20Sea/28/53/24
I am honored to be the opening act for a new series of featured readers at Sonder Book on the Second Life platform. I am launching my new book “Quiet Places, Loud Thoughts” with a reading of its introduction, followed by poems from my upcoming book “Pages She Will Carry”, and a few of my Rhysling nominated poems.
Writers Workout Conference (Virtual)
March 23rd – 29th
https://www.writersworkout.net/conference
I am a featured speaker at the conference and will give a presentation of a paper. My presentation will remain at the conference to be viewed by attendees for several months afterward.
My “Writers Retreats” presentation will drop on March 28th at 5pm EST. It is a recorded version of my new book “Quiet Places, Loud Thoughts: The pros and cons of writing retreats for poets and writers.” If you are an attendee, you have access to a free “cliffnotes” version of my presentation and access to a 50% off coupon for my digital edition PDF ebook, available only at Indigoskye Press. The coupon will be active from March 14th through April 30th.
The Ontario Art Book Fair
Ontario, CA
March 28
The City of Ontario’s Museum, Arts & Culture Department announces the return of the Ontario Art Book Fair on Saturday, March 28, 2026, from 11 AM – 5 PM. This very popular, free one-day event will feature over sixty exhibitors including publishing houses, independent press collectives, artists, zine-makers, printmakers, and individuals practicing experimental paper formats. The Art Book Fair will take place at the Chaffey Community Museum of Art’s galleries and activate the outdoor space “Art Yard” showcasing regional artists’ books, catalogues, monographs, periodicals, art prints, and zines.
I will be selling my haiku style poetry books with the Southern California Haiku Study Group. I hope to see you there!
A Garden of Verses Poetry Festival
April 4th
California Botanic Garden
Claremont CA
Kicking off both national Poetry Month and CalBG’s Wildflower Month, guests are invited to walk the paths amongst spring blooms and happen upon multiple poetry stations scattered throughout the Mesa gardens. All ages are welcome at this celebration of the power of poetry to increase our bond with nature. Join us for hands-on poetry activity stations where you will be guided in creating your own nature poetry, and listen to local poets.
Wendy Van Camp is featured at 1:40pm
Nessie Day Writing Prompt Session with indigo Starling
Second Life Platform (Virtual)
Get ready for Nessie Day with a series of writing prompt sessions designed to spark your imagination and help you craft your contest entry for the Nessie Day Creative Contest. Indigo Starling will be hosting Nessie Day Writing Sessions at various coffeehouses and book stores in Second Life, welcoming both poets and short fiction writers. These one hour sessions will help you explore Nessie’s legend as the beloved Sea Guardian of Port Emyniad and prepare your work for submission. All entries must be placed in the Port Emyniad drop boxes by May 8th.
Sonder Books
THURSDAY, April 16th @ 1pm SLT
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Cerulean%20Sea/28/53/24
The Reading Room in Seogyeoshire
THURSDAY, April 23rd @ 1pm SLT
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Solbitgil/41/164/44
Octavia’s
TUESDAY, April 28th @ noon SLT
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Clearwing/74/101/33
LitFest in the Dena
May 1st – 2nd
Pasadena Presbyterian Church
Pasadena, CA
LitFest in the Dena is a free to attend literary book festival in Altadena, CA. It features poets and authors from the Southern California area. You can hear the Starlit Scribes on Saturday, May 2nd at 11:30am. Please see the location for room location.
Join the Starlit Scribes for a reading of speculative poetry that probes the essence of human integrity, through the imaginative landscapes of science fiction, fantasy and horror. Poets: Bree Wernicke, LK Indigo, Denise Dumar, and Poet Laureate Emerita Wendy Van Camp.
Wandering Bard Open-Mic (Virtual)
Featuring and hosted by Indigo Starling (aka Wendy Van Camp)
May 7th @ 5pm Pacific
Second Life Platform
Fantasy Faire Poetry Pavillion in “Lost Pages Region”
Step into The Wandering Bard, a fantasy-themed poetry open mic at Fantasy Faire LitFest where every voice carries the weight of legend. Hosted and featuring Indigo Starling, published poet and poet laureate emerita, this gathering invites poets to share work that drifts between myth, magic, and the stars. Whether you come to perform or listen, expect an evening where verse unfolds like ancient songs passed from traveler to traveler.
Nessie Day (Virtual)
May 12, 2026
Corsica South Coasters – Port Emyniad
Emyniad (159, 45, 26)
After many weeks of planning and my hosting three writing prompt workshops to prepare, Port Emynaid’s first annual Nessie Day event was held. It was two hours of music by singer Jesika Wirefly , followed by DJ Zed. In the middle, I hosted a reading of the entries of the writing contest and then later, read the winner list. It was a well attended event and brought attention to our lovely region on the Corsica Mainland.
Judges: Owl Dragonash, CK, and Indigo Starling
Winners of the Nessie Day Writing and Photo Contests all received a trophy and a designated prize of Lindens. Funds were donated by Owl and CK, along with a sponsorship from Sonder Books. Many thanks to bookstore owner Emm Cerulean for her support of the event and for hosting one of my writing prompt sessions.
Omega Scifi Projects’s Tomorrow Prize
for Science Fiction Writing Students
May 16th from 4pm to 6pm
Vroman’s Bookstore in Pasadena, CA
Join us in honoring our prize winning student scifi writers at our culminating Readings and Honors. Wendy Van Camp will speak briefly to the students as she hands out one of the prizes. It is an honor to be a finalist judge for the Tomorrow Prize.
Balticon 59 (Virtual)
May 22ndth – 25th
Renaissance Harborplace Hotel
Baltimore, MD
I was a poetry judge of the BSFS Poetry Contest at this Regional Level Science Fiction and Fantasy Convention in Baltimore, Maryland.
WisCon 48 (Virtual)
May 23rd – 25th
Madison, WI
I’m pleased to be returning to WisCon this year as a panelist. This is a speculative convention with a feminist/LGBTQ leaning, but is open to anyone with a love for science fiction, fantasy, and horror genre prose, media, or poetry. It features panels, an art show, and a dealer room. This year it is virtual only, but will return in-person to its home hotel next year in Madison, WI.
Stepladder Speculative Feminism
Zoom Room 3 • Sun 9:00 AM–10:15 AM CST
Panelist
If you told someone you were going to this feminist science fiction convention and they said, “Feminist science fiction? What is that? Can you give me some examples?” what would you suggest?
Liminal Spaces in Speculative Fiction
Zoom Room 5 • Mon 10:30 AM–11:45 AM CST
Moderator
Mythic criticism has long focused on the significance of liminal spaces – those borders between worlds and realities where anything can happen. What do such spaces mean when we move beyond myth and into the proliferating spaces of fantasy, science fiction multiverses, or the non-natural borders of urban fantasy?
SFWA Nebula Conference (Virtual)
June 2nd – 7th
https://events.sfwa.org/upcoming-events/
SFWA Poetry Meetup
Join me and the rest of the SFWA Poetry Committee at this virtual and in-person event. It is part of SFWA’s Nebula Conference. Registration is required to attend. The conference registration also allows you access to SFWA’s online event offerings that happen throughout the year, including our poetry book club and quarterly open-mic.
June 7th – 10:00 AM – 10:50 PM EST, (Virtual) Panel 4-3 – SPECULATIVE POETRY: Current and Forthcoming Trends
with Wendy Van Camp (M), Mari Ness, and Gwynne Garfinkle – Where is spec fic poetry headed next? Micro poetry is just one emerging trend our panel of poets will discuss in this intriguing panel.
EagleCon
Student Union
California State University at Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA
Date TBA
I and my poetry troupe, the “Starlit Scribes” will read and discuss speculative poetry for the university poetry classes at this university-based science fiction conference. Our group will be available for book sales and autographs after our reading. The conference is free for the public, but parking in the visitor lot has a fee.
Anaheim Central Open-Mic
Featured Poet Wendy Van Camp
Anaheim, CA
September 3rd @ 4:30pm – 7pm
I will be returning as a featured reader to my home open-mic at the Main Library Branch in Anaheim, CA. I will read from my new poetry collection “Pages She Will Carry” and will bring copies of the book to sell afterward.