writerly world: news & tidbits
June 2024
In this issue: artist residency; publication ops; pride celebrations; anniversaries.
creekside arts au revoir
I’ve already been home for three weeks since my 3-week writing residency at Creekside Arts in Humboldt County ended. All 7 multidisciplinary artists were provided with private living quarters & work studios. I managed to move my writing project forward, from typing up notes from documents to tightening prior essay drafts & creating ekphrastic poems (meaning: a literary description of or commentary on an image or visual work of art) based on family photos & ephemera.
I joined numerous nature outings (Arcata Marsh, Trinidad tide pools, Arcata Community Forest, Manila Dunes), enjoyed local arts events (Kinetic Sculpture Race & Eureka Friday Night Market) & attended a dozen community & neighborhood potlucks/BBQs/pizza nights/buffet dinners. Not to mention just hanging out with people in my creative cohort. It’s a wonder we got any work done!
We each delivered a Community Engagement project, leading workshops in the county jail or with local organizations. I proposed a workshop for staff/volunteers of Humboldt Hospice or the North Coast Rape Crisis Team where I used to work. Instead I facilitated a 2-hour session on-site for 10 Creekside community members & neighbors, introducing them to the AWA Method with prompts & erasure poetry.
Success! Everyone wrote. Everyone read aloud. Everyone offered reflective feedback. Someone initially reluctant to participate offered permission to share her evocative poem (below). I especially love the fresh, inventive language of “‘reflesh’ the bones”:
During North Coast Open Studios the final weekend we presented works-in-progress. Lisa and Marshall displayed new paintings & discussed their artistic process; Enneréssa combined the poetry of improvisational dance with spoken word; Thandiwe read a brand new short story; Ciara performed part of her one-woman-show; Divya shared biodegradable art made from locally sourced biomaterials; and I read poems & an essay excerpt.
Some artist residents called their experience at Creekside “transformative.” I’d describe mine as “integrative.” In May’s newsletter I mentioned that I was remapping my relationship to place, revisiting old stomping grounds where I’d lived, worked & loved during the 1990s, from King Salmon to Arcata to Trinidad.
My wife Kristen visited the final weekend. We hiked at Headwaters Forest Preserve & celebrated her 55th turn around the sun. I treated her to a birthday dinner of prime rib with a bottle of Late Bloomer grenache at The Larrupin Cafe near Sue-meg State Park where we returned to watch migrating gray whales with their young.
We played “stay another day” at the Humboldt Bay Social Club in Samoa where we enjoyed cocktails in the lobby bar & grilled fresh oysters. Check out their Artist Residency with steeply discounted longterm lodging & free studio space!
got something to say? try awa!
It warms my heart any time a writer in my AWA workshops makes a breakthrough, be it gaining confidence in their writing voice, tapping into the their own well of creativity, or even getting a publication accepted for the first time—a rite of passage for any writer willing to risk putting their work out there in the world for evaluation.
So I was thrilled to receive news from Carolyn Moore, an ongoing workshop participant (with whom I taught women’s self-defense!) whose piece “Patience or Folly?” was accepted by Peregrine Journal, a publication of Amherst Writers & Artists Press. The caregiver-themed issue is forthcoming in October 2024. Carolyn, who loved creative writing as a kid until “the joy got squeezed out of it” in adulthood, says:
“My writing was so shut down before I found your group. I really appreciate the space you’ve created to make it safe for my creativity & my truth to peek out.”
AWA is producing a second anthology of writing by survivors of sexual assault called We've Got Some Things to Say (forthcoming 2025). It will be edited by Mary Simmerling with whom I’ve facilitated writing workshops for RAINN staff & volunteers. Her 2014 poem “What I Was Wearing” inspired worldwide WIWW art installations & exhibits.
The anthology title was selected to address these common yet harmful questions & comments that survivors often deal with: “What were you wearing? / Why didn’t you fight back? / Were you drinking? / I thought you were dating. / That person wouldn't have done that. / Why didn't you go to the police?” Let’s stop victim-blaming!
Writers may submit up to 3 pieces of poetry & creative nonfiction/memoir.
Deadline: June 31, 2024
best celebrations
After a 4-year hiatus as a contract copywriter for Viator, a Tripadvisor company based in San Francisco, I was hired as a freelance editor in March. Since then I’ve edited dozens of articles, mostly roundups listing “best places to _____.” After I binged on the third season of Bridgerton it was a pleasure to edit 10 “Bridgerton” Filming Locations in England That You Can Actually Visit. I just completed a series of zodiac-based lists, such as 7 of the Best Places To Travel if You’re a Leo. Don’t miss 9 of the Best Pride Celebrations in the US.
This Pride weekend Kristen & I celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary! June also marks a year since I switched this newsletter from TinyLetter to Substack. And, four years ago in June I was trained & certified as an Amherst Writers workshop leader.
Soon we’re off to Markleeville, site of Grover Hot Springs State Park, en route to Mammoth in the eastern Sierra where Kristen will thru-hike the John Muir Trail while I hunker down to work & write at an Airbnb in Bishop in the 100-degree heat!
I loved reading this, Nicole. You did so much while you were here. I'm sure you inspire your followers.
You sure know how to celebrate life’s moments, Nicole. I especially appreciate how you mark milestones of the changes you’ve made and how they’ve turned out so far. Janna Maron recently wrote about her birthday as a time for reflection on the last “turn around the sun.” I’m going to try it for the equinoxes and solstices.