Essay on Creative Emptiness at WBUR Cognoscenti to Celebrate National Poetry Month

 

I've published a piece at WBUR's Cognoscenti on mindful writing to celebrate National Poetry Month. It's about how I handle creative emptiness and also about how poetry started in my life because of a medication and birth defects.

You can find the article here.

 

I'll be talking about mindful writing as a panelist at the University of New Hampshire's Deep Time Lab this Tuesday. 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM.

Deep Time Lab: The Present is the first in a three-part series of community conversations exploring how we situate ourselves within Time. The series explores new connections between past, present, and potential futures through the research of UNH faculty and community scholars. The conversation is a compliment to the Solastalgic Archive and Deep Time Lab exhibition at the Museum of Art. The exhibition asks viewers to consider living in our current age of accelerated change, which reveals that there is not a single, predictable future. Panelists will explore the idea that history is a story that can be retold and revised: What will be is being scripted right now.

Deep Time Lab: The Present features a conversation between Dr. Cristina Faiver-Serna, UNH Department of Geography and Women's and Gender Studies, Dr. Alexandria Peary, Salem State University and New Hampshire Poet Laureate, and Dr. Tu Lan, UNH Department of Geography. Join us to explore time as a language, a measure, loss, abundance, a social context, a scientific principle, a spiritual space, and a cultural expression.

This event is a hybrid in-person and Zoom event. Location: room A218 in the Paul Creative Arts Center. Registration is required to attend the program via Zoom.

Register to attend via Zoom here.

Joins us for all events in this series, Deep Time Lab: The Past on October 27th and Deep Time Lab: The Future, on November 3rd.

Deep Time Lab: The Present compliments the exhibition the Solastalgic Archive and Deep Time Lab on view at the Museum of Art through December 3, 2022. 

Mindful Writing Resources

  

Here's a compilation of my recent publications
and talks on mindful writing as a resource
 for you: 2022 mindful writing resources.

National Novel Writing Month: Mindful Writing Webcast

 

On Wednesday, November 10, at 2 PM EST, 11 AM, PST, I'll be presenting a mindful writing webcast for NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month: NaNo Calendar

I'll be offering tips on how to reside in the present moment while writing for those courageously creative participants about to embark on a marathon month-long novel writing experience!

If you'd like to join us: https://youtu.be/5WLAVZLsQ24

If you would like more information about National Novel Writing Month: NaNoWriMo

Description of Session:

This interactive presentation focuses on using mindful writing techniques to help you write your novel during NaNoWriMo. We cover the basics of impermanence, monkey mind, audience ghosts, and preconceptions about writing ability. By residing in the present moment, writers step away from future- or past-oriented worries and create with more ease and satisfaction. Every moment brings us new ideas, if we observe the writing moment with evaluation-free detachment. We practice several techniques to manage perfectionism and readers-in-the-head, plus ways to keep the momentum of your writing going throughout the NaNoWriMo experience.  

Registration Open for the 603 Conference

Registration is now open for this year's 603 Conference, happening virtually on Saturday, October 23. This conference is sponsored by the New Hampshire Writers' Project: info

[Update: This festival has been rescheduled for June 4, 2022. Stay tuned for additional details.]

I'll be joining an exciting line-up of presenters and offering my class, "Present Moment, Poetic Moment." If you're curious about how mindfulness can benefit your poetry, register soon:

Description of workshop: This interactive presentation focuses on using mindful writing techniques to write poems. We begin with an overview of the basics of mindful writing, including impermanence, preconceptions about writing ability, monkey mind, and audience ghosts. With a more conscious approach to the writing moment, every moment can become a prolific moment. We discuss how to diminish writing worry from future- or past-oriented thinking and how to reside in the present moment to write with ease and joy. Participants practice several mindful writing techniques and leave the session with a new poem started.

Opportunity to Learn More about Mindful Writing (Event in January and February 2021)

New Hampshire Residents: If you're looking for a way to mindfully manage pandemic stress or learn more about mindful writing to benefit your writing practice, you're invited to an upcoming mindful writing webinar!

This January & February, the National Council of Teachers of English is hosting a sequel of my Mindful Writing Series. The sessions are designed for anyone (no need to be a teacher) dealing with pandemic stress or curiosity about mindful writing/mindfulness. See site for non-member registration fee and for videos of the September webinar:NCTE Mindful Writing Series

In each session, participants will be invited to do a guided meditation and then a restorative activity that combines writing with mindfulness, including already-perfect meditation, working with preconceptions and story lines, caricature of our internalized critics, and mantra for self-compassion. We will revisit and practice a few of the mindfulness activities from the September series. Some sessions will include guest speakers and experts on mindfulness with an opportunity for Q&A; guest speakers will be announced as they are confirmed.

By writing in the moment, we can relax into the present and take care of ourselves.