Come to COSTA MESA, City of the Arts!
by Conference Chair Mari Alschuler, LCSW, RPT, M/S

We are so pleased to be planning NAPT’s 2004 Annual Conference at the Hilton Costa Mesa in sunny southern California. The Hilton just completed a $15 million renovation—and it shows! Equidistant between San Diego and Los Angeles, Costa Mesa is known as the City of the Arts. Mark your calendars for our 24th conference to be held Wed., April 14 through Sun., April 18, 2004. Our theme is "The Intimate Word: Transforming Lives through Poetry Therapy." We are thrilled to have award-winning poet Li-Young Lee joining us this year as our Keynote Poet, and our own Nick Mazza as our Keynote Speaker.

The spectacular, soaring lobby has petrified palm trees, clear elevators, a fireplace in which they bake pizza right in the corner of the lobby, a full bar, restaurant, and coffee bar that opens as early as 5:30 a.m. for you early birds. Double rooms with queen beds also have double sinks and are spacious with amazingly comfortable mattresses (we tried them out!). Other rooms have king-size beds and are equally spacious (but just one sink). Most rooms have their own balcony.

Hotel amenities include a massage therapist, a decent-sized fitness center, whirlpool and swimming pool. The hotel will provide free shuttles to and from nearby John Wayne Airport and to restaurants and shopping malls within a five-mile radius. A friendly and knowledgeable concierge is available to assist you with restaurant reservations and theatre or concert tickets.

We hope to plan a theatre evening at the local Theatre and/or Repertory Company; watch the website for group ticket information. Nearby the hotel is a huge mall; forty restaurants are in a one-mile radius. Laguna Beach is a twenty-minute drive and full of great shops, beaches, and world-renowned art galleries. And the beach is only ten minutes away.

The local independent bookseller, Book Soup, will be providing our on-site bookstore. There will be room in the bookstore area for members to sell handmade crafts (notify conference committee if interested).

Our opening ceremony will include a video on Art Lerner by Jenny Laper followed by performance poet Jerry Quickley. Our closing ceremony is going to be a memorable one, with music and drumming. In addition, Joy Sawyer and Caryn Mirram-Goldberg will be presenting a special Friday night spoken word performance, "The Sacred Word, The Sacred Clearing: A Meeting of Intimate Words Across Faiths." Pre- and post-conference workshops will feature presentations by Jerri Chaplin, Deborah Grayson, Tom Hedberg, John Fox, Perie Longo, Robert Carroll, and others. Watch our website for more exciting details!

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