Arrived home yesterday from my third residency at the Hambidge Center for the Creative Arts. It’s located in the foothills of the Appalachians- the birds would sing and the sun stream green through dense trees and I’d write- hiking the trails or running or reading* whenever I got stuck.
The conversations and work shared by my fellows were hugely impactful. I devoured the upcoming dystopian adventure, Mira Corpora of playwright, jazz writer and novelist Jeff Jackson- such tight prose!!! Susannah Felts‘ This will Go Down on Your Permanent Record inspired me to delve much more deeply about being a music-obsessed teen in the South- and captures the sticky dynamics between teen girls. I adored visual artist Jessica Caldas‘ work in progress on connections (which will premiere at an October show in Atlanta- have to go), ditto for the compositions of Charles Zoll.
My last night we watched Josh Zeman’s trailer for Finding 52: the Search for the Loneliest Whale about a whale whose voice can be heard by no other due to frequency- but it’s also about loneliness and lack of connection in this modern world. Part of my heart is still stuck in my throat. Jeff and Josh also were collaborating on a screenplay about sentient plants turned evil- we three shared an obsession with cults- can’t wait to see what they’ve wrought. Also am very excited about Barbara Blatner’s poetry and her upcoming play about race and the South in 1963. We had great discussions- my other project, Delta Drive, taps a similar vein. Excited to see how Ginger Krebs‘ performance art is impacted by Hambidge, and can’t wait to read the work of Nova Ren Suma, who arrived right before I left.
It might sound like all play but I worked hard for ten days – churning out eight chapters, plus drafted notes for three more- under the advisement of my Tin House wolf pack (you know who you are)- it was the last original material I needed for Unreformed. Plan now is to finish the beginning- then ready to excise the entire draft with a scalpel- (see above admiration for tight prose).
The conversations and work shared by my fellows were hugely impactful. I devoured the upcoming dystopian adventure, Mira Corpora of playwright, jazz writer and novelist Jeff Jackson- such tight prose!!! Susannah Felts‘ This will Go Down on Your Permanent Record inspired me to delve much more deeply about being a music-obsessed teen in the South- and captures the sticky dynamics between teen girls. I adored visual artist Jessica Caldas‘ work in progress on connections (which will premiere at an October show in Atlanta- have to go), ditto for the compositions of Charles Zoll.
My last night we watched Josh Zeman’s trailer for Finding 52: the Search for the Loneliest Whale about a whale whose voice can be heard by no other due to frequency- but it’s also about loneliness and lack of connection in this modern world. Part of my heart is still stuck in my throat. Jeff and Josh also were collaborating on a screenplay about sentient plants turned evil- we three shared an obsession with cults- can’t wait to see what they’ve wrought. Also am very excited about Barbara Blatner’s poetry and her upcoming play about race and the South in 1963. We had great discussions- my other project, Delta Drive, taps a similar vein. Excited to see how Ginger Krebs‘ performance art is impacted by Hambidge, and can’t wait to read the work of Nova Ren Suma, who arrived right before I left.
It might sound like all play but I worked hard for ten days – churning out eight chapters, plus drafted notes for three more- under the advisement of my Tin House wolf pack (you know who you are)- it was the last original material I needed for Unreformed. Plan now is to finish the beginning- then ready to excise the entire draft with a scalpel- (see above admiration for tight prose).
*Inheiritance (Chang), Financial Lives of Poets (Walters), Brain on Fire, Center Cannot Hold (Saks), American Dream Machine (Specktor), Dark Side (Mayer), Chain of Command (Hersh), Mira Corpora (Jackson), This Will Go Down on Your Permanent Record (Felts)