Find out where you can see me read, hear me blab, or get your copy of Word by Word signed. (No silly slide presentations unless explicitly noted, sorry.) Check back often: new dates are being added on the regular!
Feb. 19, 2020: PINEHURST, NC
The English Speaking Union (closed event)
“A (Very) Brief History of the English Language”
Silly slide presentation 100% guaranteed!
Feb. 28, 2020: LISLE, IL
ITBE 2020 Convention (closed event)
“English and How It Got That Way: A Quick History”
I promise not to shrug my shoulders and say “English!” more than three times. Silly slides also guaranteed, because how else am I going to wake all y’all up first thing Friday morning?
April 2, 2020: DENVER, CO
TESOL 2020 Convention (closed event)
“Boost Vocabulary Through Personalized Word Lists and Practice”
In conjunction with Cambridge Dictionaries. Slides will actually be helpful, though I will no doubt crack jokes while offering high-quality pedagogical research and useful advice.
June 9, 2020: NEW HAVEN, CT
Color Impact 2020 (closed event)
“”Rose” By Any Other Name: The Color-Name Problem from the Language Specialist’s Point of View”
I’m very excited to present some of the original research that went into my forthcoming book on defining color! If you’re a color nerd and want to know what goes in to trying to come up with a comprehensive general definition for “eggshell,” you should come to this conference and heckle me.
July 19, 2020: ORLANDO, FL
Women in Agile 2020 (closed event)
keynote address
Yes, I know that Agile is not a word-nerd thing. Or is it?
harm·less drudg·ery 
I already know the answer to this, but do you take requests to just sit and talk to someone over coffee? I majored in linguistics in college and you’re basically doing my dream job. 🙂 Love the blog.
If you’re attending one of these conferences, sure! Otherwise, they don’t like me wandering away from my veal pen.
I wish! I will definitely keep track though (in a much less stalkerish way than that sounds) and see if anything ever comes up near me. If it does, I’m there!
I can confirm that she accepts artisanal hot chocolate if you bring it to her.
Bridget, we Stamperphiles should just pool our money to start a conference dedicated to a love of English by amateur lexicophiles. We could see the dorky PowerPoint slides AND have coffee with Kory…
KS – you are my new intellectual icon! Never before have I been so in awe of one person’s use and knowledge of the english language – and simultaneously concerned with my own short-comings in said area. And, of course, as always – you are wicked funny!
It’s a joy to read someone so literate and funny! Keep it up.
Thank you for your excellent presentation today at eLex!
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No Detroit 😦
Not this go-round, though it’s worth noting that I’ll be doing more travel later this summer and fall! There is yet hope for Detroit.
It says here that you will be in Denver on April 29, but the Tattered Cover web site says April 28. Can you confirm which is correct?
Also, yes, East Colfax has changed a lot . . . and yet remains so much the same.
ACK, you are right: it’s April 28. Thank you, and I’ve fixed it now.
I guess Berlin’s out of the question.
Kansas City, please!
I didn’t see Seattle on the list- typo? 🙂 You’d have a full house…
You’re not the only one to say that….
I am really, really hoping that Round Two of the book tour will be a west coast (and Texas? Y’all Texans really love this book) jaunt. Stay tuned!
Texas, yes please, especially Austin, at either BookPeople or upstart Malvern Books. The eyes of Texas will be upon you.
Speaking as a resident of Texas, I believe that “Y’all Texans” should be “All y’all Texans”:
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/all_y%27all
(I apologize for resorting to a lesser source than M-W, but this usage doesn’t seem to appear there.)
Perhaps more to the point, BookPeople in Austin would probably love to have you stop by to push some paper:
http://www.bookpeople.com
XOXO,
WordSpotterDuck
Oh my goodness! I just discovered your site recently, and I must say, you’re absolutely inspiring. I’m a linguistics major hoping to minor in publishing and my dream is to be a lexicographer as well! I never realized there were so many others who are genuinely fascinated by and love words and dictionaries! 😄 I would absolutely love for you to come to Vancouver, BC one day!
Oh, yay! I finally discover an author BEFORE they hit Pittsburgh, instead of two weeks after they’ve been here!
I wish you were coming to Ann Arbor! I bought the book immediately and have expressed my enjoyment here: http://maefood.blogspot.com/2017/03/wordy-wednesday-inside-dictionary.html
Kory, you’ll enjoy the newer East Colfax Tattered Cover. Bookstore-hip amid the detattering remains of that aging strip street revival. Make sure to leave time to stop in at the TwistandShout.com next door to get the full transformative jolt. I won’t be there but wish I could be.
Kory, I’m disappointed that I’ll be away when you’re in Chicago! (I’ll be in Buenos Aires.) But with luck you’ll be back for #ACES2018 and I can buy you a beer then. Meanwhile, have a wonderful tour!
Seems like you could squeeze Lincoln, Nebraska, in on April 27. Indigo Bridge book store or Francie & Fitch would be good bets.
Clearly you are dissing us on the Left Coast. San Francisco and Los Angeles are not (necessarily) the intellectual hinterlands once rumored to be.
Is it possible to get a book signed if I can’t attend one of your events? I could pay for shipping, etc. I bought this book for my mom – a dictionary enthusiast. Obviously, she also loves this book.
There is! You can call any of the independent bookstores I’ll be reading at and ask to order a signed copy. Then I’ll sign it when I get there to read.
Huntsville, AL Don’t bother with ATL, BNA or BHM. HSV is the place you want to visit.
Please include Los Angeles in your west coast tour. Heard you on Fresh Air last week – made my commute home in L.A. traffic fun!
I’m still waiting for West Hartford, CT, home of Noah Webster himself.
Your wish is my command! See updates!
My husband is a fan and has written a for real long-hand letter to you.
Is there an address where you could receive it?
Dallas! Dallas! Dallas! Pretty please, with banana puddin’ on top?
Kory I absolutely love your book. I have, sadly, almost finished reading it; myriad times I have interrupted members of my family to read passages out loud to them. I love your erudite style and impressive command of our wonderful and interesting language. If I were younger you would have me interested in a career as a lexicographer /etymologist.
I’ll put my vote in for a book signing in Baltimore.
Thanks!
Julie
Please come Washington D.C. Your book is great!
GAH! I missed Boston. Can’t wait for the next round of locations. Mama needs a vacation!
Please add Washington, DC! (Or Maryland, even better. 🙂 )
I loved your book and look forward for the next one. I hope to see you one day at Third Place Books in Lake forest Park, WA. (just north of Seattle).
Your book is superb! I cannot recall the last time I read someone who can match your thorough command of the English language, were every word matters. Try to steer your book tour to the Atlantic Coast of Florida this winter. Looking forward to reading more from you.
Please come to North Carolina! We have a great new non-profit bookstore in Winston-Salem called Bookmarks that would be a perfect host. I haven’t asked them but surely they won’t mind.
Any chance of coming to NYC?????
We enjoyed your book reading at Powell’s Books. It was fun and entertaining. Thanks.
Here is a comment from WAPO 3-25-18 with a new word selection that I thought you might enjoy:
How about “disbarrassment” as a new word for 2018:
Definition: The feeling a lawyer experiences when asked to work for an embarrassing client and where that work would likely get him disbarred.
Usage: Attorney Joseph diGenova decided not to accept failed real estate speculator and entertainer Donald Trump as a client, claiming conflicts of interest and disbarrassment.
It’s a-boot time you came to Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario, or even Toronto, eh?