a writing workshop rearranges my molecules in a way nothing else ever has. So grateful to @iuwritecon for another year of deeply, deeply meaningful community with poets—it was worth ruining my lower back and right hip sleeping 4 nights in a college dorm bed.
So grateful to have shared words and minds this weekend with @safiamafia@laptitevaliserouge and all the beautiful poets in my workshop. VERY excited to go home to my bed, but this was a good one.
Welcome back, Christina Jarvis! Drawing on Vonnegut's manuscripts, this talk explores the "peculiar travel suggestions" Vonnegut embraced in Cat's Cradle, diving into his anthropological, scientific, and environmental engagements to place the novel within his writing career.
June 8 • 12pm • Gayle Karch Cook Center
Free event!
My other poem in the November issue of Stone Poetry Quarterly! I must credit @spellegrinooo and @zrals with making me aware of Stephanie Kwolek, for whom one of their cats is named; I have wanted to get her in a poem since I learned about her. And I also must credit Stephen Sondheim with making me aware of Leon Czolgosz, assassin of William McKinley.
Some June highlights. Today I slept until 11:15 which is practically unprecedented for me. I went to my first writers conference, swam in the lake a lot, spent two weeks with the sweetest dog in the world, bought beautiful farmers market produce, and generally enjoyed my little corner of the sky. Have restarted Morning Pages which feels like the best possible thing I can do for my brain. And am reading a ton of poetry rn. 🌼
Can’t remember the last time I fangirled so hard honestly. Not only is @joscharles an amazing poet but she is also such a generous and generative reader and instructor. I am so grateful to have spent this weekend with all the magical writers @iuwritecon and on the gorgeous IU campus; grateful to @tagreathouse@gracetalusanwriter for leading such wonderful classes; and grateful to Bob Bledsoe and all the conference staff! 💖
I never write poetry, but thanks to an exercise and template from @gracetalusanwriter at the IU Writers’ Conference I wrote this. This is my second year as an intern for the conference. I happened to stumble upon the internship sometime during the fall of junior year through my professor and mentor, Bob Bledsoe, the director of the conference. It’s always such a great time to learn from the amazing authors that are brought in from around the country and connect with fellow writers. The writers’ conference attracts a wide variety of people from undergrads to older writers still working to bring their wonderful work to others. I’ve met some of the most genuine, generous people through this conference and I always feel excited and energized to continue my own writing projects after the conference ends.
I’ve been working on this poem for two days since the exercise. This is the first poem I’ve ever written and shared with anyone. I’m trying to get better about sharing my writing instead of just letting it sit on my computer desktop. I’m also working to challenge myself by writing in other genres. I love writing CNF but I also don’t want to miss out on the stories and thoughts I can share through fiction and poetry.
The festival is hosting a number of topical talks and readings this year! Dive into the themes of Vonnegut’s “Jailbird” with engaging experts, listen to the Writers’ Conference faculty share their latest works, and see Carl Bernstein in-person discuss American politics from Watergate to the present!
In August I sent poems to the journal my MA program @uchicagomaph publishes, Common Forms, that features both creative and critical work by program alumni; my poem “To cite again” appears in the new issue! Thank you to Colin and Jenna for giving this poem a home and for giving me the opportunity to write some commentary on it (linked in bio). It feels significant at this moment to have a poem out there about an element of my Jewishness that is not explicitly political or religious.
