This morning I was talking to a friend/student who said he just had an epiphany about rewriting. For years in class he’d been writing rants, spilling on paper the things he felt deeply about – relationships, his work, politics – and he’d get good feedback in workshop, everyone was interested, but his pieces needed…
Where’s your posse? Your tribe? The Lit Salon was here this morning (above), my Vroman’s workshop was yesterday, and I’m organizing a writing retreat in Lake Arrowhead for October – so I’ve been thinking a lot about what writers need, what we can get out of retreats and workshops, what can actually be taught…
My 10 week advanced non-fiction course in the Writers’ Program at UCLA Extension begins tomorrow and I’m going to post part of it every week on this blog. I’ve been teaching the course forever so I decided to come up with new subjects/themes for each week to keep the course fresh not only for me…
“I write to discover. I write to uncover. I write to meet my ghosts…I write because it is dangerous, a bloody risk, like love, to form the words.” – Terry Tempest Williams Come write with us – there are two spaces left in my October 20-22 Writers Retreat in Lake Arrowhead. It’s a…
So there’s a lot of stuff going on right now – the disasters in this country, both natural and political, and then personal things – a trip to New York soon and getting my next retreat lined up for October, going through applications for the fall class at UCLA, etc. and now it’s Labor…
I discovered this poster (created by Courtney E. Martin & Wendy MacNaughton) on Maria Popalov’s amazing newsletter ‘BrainPickings’ months ago and when I rediscovered it in my journal this morning it was like a gift. The words have become even more important during these past few weeks: This is your assignment. Feel all the things.…
The best way to get Trump out of your head is to read the smart, inspiring, eloquent website called Brain Pickings written by Maria Popova. Her piece on the new memoir by Bill Hayes about his relationship to Oliver Sacks and New York caused me to order it instantly. (Insomniac City: New York, Oliver, and…
If you watched the Tony awards last night you saw in action what Mary McNamara wrote in this morning’s L.A.Times: “From tragedy can come art and from art can come wisdom.” Frank Langella in his acceptance speech for lead actor in a play said, “When something bad happens we have three choices: We let it…
A gift for you this morning: the link to Kate Gale’s blog. https://kategale.wordpress.com Kate is managing editor of Red Hen Press, as well as a poet, teacher, traveler, family person, bon vivant, blogger etc. She herself once said action is her default; she’s a force of nature, really smart, funny and has a talent for…
My next writing retreat in Lake Arrowhead at the UCLA Conference Center will be held October 2 – 4, 2015. There’s now a waiting list and I’ve been thinking of possibly giving another retreat either in November or early spring. Please email me if you’re interested in signing up for the later retreat or getting on…
