UPDATE 6/23/19: The 2019 Historical Novel Society Conference is now past. Our next conference will be in 2021. If you would like to see what previous special events have entailed, please look at the descriptions below.
Thursday, June 20, 2019, 4:00 – 4:30 p.m.
ORIENTATION SESSION FOR CONFERENCE VOLUNTEERS
Room: Pose Lounge
HNS greatly appreciates all of our conference attendees who volunteer to help the conference run smoothly. Jenny Q will orient volunteers on the various needs and duties.
Thursday, June 20, 2019, 4:45 – 5:15 p.m.
ORIENTATION SESSION FOR NEW HNS CONFERENCE ATTENDEES
Room: Pose Lounge
Not all writers’ conferences are the same. Learn what to expect over the next two days at HNS NA Conference, as the “lay of the land” is demystified by Conference Chair Vanitha Sankaran.
Thursday, June 20, 2019, 6:00 – 8:00 p.m.
OPENING NIGHT COCKTAIL RECEPTION AND COSTUME CONTEST
Room: Pose Lounge
Meet and mingle with current colleagues and make new friends. Enter the costume contest dressed as an impersonation of an historical figure or in your finest evocation of a historical era. Open to all! There will be prizes!
Friday, June 21, 2019, 5:00 – 6:30 p.m.
HOOCH THROUGH HISTORY: “REVOLUTIONS AROUND THE WORLD”
Special event (pre-registration required, additional fee of $75 per person)
Room: Woodrow Wilson A
A potent potables tasting flight across the centuries, Hooch Through History touches down in six countries around the globe. Our ”spirit” guide—food and beverage historian Isobel Carr—will lead attendees through deliciously “Revolutionary” cocktails (paired with a few authentic hors d’oeuvres) that were imbibed in America, Mexico, Haiti, France, India, and Japan during particularly turbulent times. As you sip and nosh, you’ll learn the whats, whys, and hows behind these specific recipes. Along your journey, you’ll sample the punch that blew George Washington’s stockings off, the daiquiri that may have fueled a Caribbean slave revolt, and learn why the pairing of gin and tonic was so crucial to India during the days of colonialism.
Saturday, June 22, 8:45 – 10:15 p.m.
LADY BALTIMORE’S BALL
Room: Baltimore 3/4/5
After the Saturday banquet, the party continues with a lively Ball to close out the festivities. Master dance instructor Larry “Corky” Palmer, who for decades has led the Alexandria Assembly, the George Washington “Birthnight Balls” at the Gadsby Tavern dances; and has brought his skills to Mount Vernon, the White House, the Smithsonian, and the Kennedy Center, will lead our ball—with the assistance of his accomplished wife Cindy, a trio of live musicians, and a duo of costumed dancers to help facilitate our steps through reels and other fun group dances.