Unfurl: April 2019
Another Lovely Retreat
This month's one-day retreat was another wonderful gathering, with quiet, solo time to write and deep, animated conversations about craft. One of the attendees shared with me that she posted on Facebook about the retreat--an excerpt of that post appears below. I feel so grateful to share this space and look forward to another retreat soon!
On Sunday I attended my second all-day writers’ retreat...I ended up writing the first draft of a section in the novel I’m working on but more importantly, I READ IT ALOUD...Sunday’s sharing was even more of a triumph bc I wasn’t just sharing the IDEA of the story but the story itself, my creation, my creative writing. It was like being with a new lover – intimate, revealing, little by little opening, hesitant, mouth-breathing, heart-pounding. And afterward: vulnerable. quiet. This is me.
National Poetry Month
So much good stuff happened this National Poetry Month, including the Poet Laureate of North Carolina as well as the Poet Laureate of Carrboro getting cash money from the Academy of American Poets to spread poetry through our community! And there are still a few days left to have a poem sent in the mail, courtesy of The Slowdown podcast by Tracy K. Smith (which has brought so much beauty and truth to my daily life). As some of you may know, I write a lot of letters (and tweet more than I should about stamps & the post office). I can't think of a greater joy than a poem in my mailbox. Hope you've rolled in some fresh poetry this month.
Unsilencing the Writing Workshop
One of my students send me this recent piece in LitHub (thanks, Claire!), which describes a lot of the practices and beliefs I bring to the writing classroom. If you aren't aware of LitHub, it's worth checking out. Better than the news, I can assure you!