May I, Might I? Thoughts on reading and writing
May I, might I? Here we are, awash in uncertainty and indecision. In the coming weeks and months, we will all have to make individual choices about what we feel safe doing. There's something beautiful to me about being forced to define our boundaries--what clarity might we come up with? But of course, it's also devastating how unclear the path forward is, how decentralized the response.
This focus on our bodies and physical protection has opened up a strange side road for me: my subconscious wandering relentlessly, aggressively, as if to say, hey, you are more than just a physical entity. Memories of long lost moments and people come back to me in seemingly unrelated moments, and because of our current context I have time to go down mental rabbit holes. The above quote is from a poem in a collection by Pablo Neruda a high school boyfriend gave me. The relationship didn't last, but he had good taste in poetry. Neruda is beautiful, profound, alive--a contrast to this moment, and perhaps for that reason all the more invigorating to revisit. Here's the entirety of Poema 14, from which the above lines come from, in both Spanish and English (courtesy of Poly Prep HS in Brooklyn). And here are a whole bunch more.
If you'd like to visit with your own memories, I have two new classes coming up (details below). I am looking forward to engaging with old friends and new, turning our thoughts toward creative self-expression.
I hope you are safe, finding ways to be yourself in this deconstructing time. Be well and be in touch.
J.
Two New Classes -- Memoir & Storytelling
I've had some time to rest and recenter and am delighted to be offering two classes starting soon. Both of these classes will be taught by Zoom. You can register for the memoir class now. I will send the registration link to the storytelling class, offered by the ArtsCenter, as soon as I have it!
Reading and Writing Memoir
Meeting times: Saturdays, 10:00-11:30am, May 23 through June 27 (6 sessions)
In this weekly class, we’ll write to prompts and discuss readings, exploring how to express our experiences authentically and understand the deeper themes of our work and that of others. The emphasis will be on making space for creativity, allowing ideas to flow as freely as possible, and cultivating attention to deepen our work. Click here to register now!
Making Meaning and Finding Community through Live Storytelling
Meeting times: Thursdays, May 28 through June 25th, 5:00pm-6:30pm (5 sessions)
As humans our instinct is to make meaning, especially in times of distress. Live storytelling is a way to create community and connection, even when we are separated. In this class, we will prepare and perform stories that speak to our recent and past experiences with change, uncertainty, grief, and hope. We will move our bodies, identify shared experiences, express sadness and joy, and feel better. No storytelling experience is required--only the desire to express yourself aloud. **Registration for this class, offered by the ArtsCenter, has not yet opened yet. I will send the link when I have it!
I've been having a lot of conversations lately about dialogue, in some ways the elusive unicorn of creative writing--coming up with a compelling, realistic expression of how people talk is something that frustrates many of my students. So this recent tweet caught my eye. It's an elegant take on dialogue, a more considered version of what you may have heard me say in a classroom (remember classrooms?), that dialogue should be doing more than one thing at once and often lies in the space between what we really want to say and what obscured version of that comes out.
if you're looking for more dialogue talk, try this piece from the New Yorker on Richard Price, who wrote the novels Clockers and Lush Life and had a lot to do with HBO's The Wire. If you're not familiar with any of these works and dig a good police procedural with a healthy side of systemic racial and economic inequality, check him out. His characters are well observed, his plots relentless--I find it hard not to get sucked into a Richard Price novel, which may be just what you're looking for right now.