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This past weekend was for me a remarkable time of sharing, learning, and being inspired with almost a hundred fellow AWA workshop leaders. So I'm bursting with fresh ideas, new prompts, and buckets of inspiration that I want to share with you.
In Kate Hymes opening address, she said, "The solitary writer is a romantic conceit." I found that a potent statement and one that points directly to the way we now write. Of course, we have to write alone for the big projects, for the journalling, and when we transcribe, but the juicey juice flows when we get together.
There's a certain magic that happens, even now when we're limited to connecting on-screen, when we gather together to write.
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So I have some news and some reminders I'd like to share now with you.
There wasn't a lot of interest in the full-day workshops I offered this fall, and especially after spending two and a half full days with my face glued to the computer screen, I understand! It's tiring. So I've converted those dates to half-day, 3-hour workshops.
And as for new news... In the service of building a circle for dedicated or would-be dedicated writers, I'm offering a 6-week series on Monday evenings starting in January.
In the spring, as you may have already read, Esana and I are hosting a writing and yoga retreat live and in person in Cantley, Quebec. As a special treat, Erin Dixon will lead us in ceremony to connect to place, honouring the elements of water and earth.
The venue is spacious, the grounds vast. There are 13 bedrooms and the meeting spaces will allow us to safely distance. There are a few spaces left so if you're interested, please let me know so I can reserve a spot for you.
At this time, we're not requesting a deposit, since in these times all plans are liquid for a while yet.
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I've often felt discomfort at the end of a land acknowledgment - a sort of, "So what are you offering back beside your privileged apology?"
To address that, when I was leading workshops in person, I offered one or two scholarship places to Indigenous writers. A small token.
My son has just been hired by his band to come up with recreation possibilities during Covid for band members. At last, I'm able to give back in a slightly more encompassing manner by leading a six-week workshop series online.
Hopefully, this will be something that is welcomed. Wish me luck!
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I leave you with a poem by Amherst Writers & Artists founder, Pat Schneider
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PATIENCE OF ORDINARY THINGS
It is a kind of love, is it not?
How the cup holds the tea,
How the chair stands sturdy and foursquare,
How the floor receives the bottoms of shoes
Or toes. How soles of feet know
Where they’re supposed to be.
I’ve been thinking about the patience
Of ordinary things, how clothes
Wait respectfully in closets
And soap dries quietly in the dish,
And towels drink the wet
From the skin of the back.
And the lovely repetition of stairs.
And what is more generous than a window?
~ Pat Schneider
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