I mentioned I’ve been busy this summer. There have been entire weeks when I have been home only one day that week and have had something going on that day that kept me from being at home longer than enough time to unpack from one thing and repack for the next thing. It has truly been that hectic a schedule.
July 14, I left for five days at Radford University’s Highland Summer Conference, held at the Selu Conservatory in Radford, VA. April Asbury and Tim Thornton head up the workshop and do a whale of a job doing so. Our speaker this year was the incomparable Robert Gipe. I’ve been in one- and two-day workshops with Gipe several times – even several times this year – but this is the first time I’ve ever had the opportunity to spend all day, every day, in a class with him ever. It was magical. Gipe just brings something to the table that words defy to define. Each day brings a new adventure, a new way of looking at things you might never have considered before. We employed interviews and a host of other tactics to get ideas and writing down on paper that week. I can’t say enough great things about this week-long experience. As soon as I know the dates and speaker for next year, I will share that information. The price is phenomenal — $250 for the week, which includes dormitory lodging and lunches, continental breakfasts, and a couple of receptions. There’s musical entertainment on two nights. And a reading on-campus one night by the guest instructor. It’s simply the best bang for your buck out there anywhere!
Then Hindman (the Appalachian Writers Workshop) started on Sunday, July 20, for 6 days. This year, I was in Denton Loving’s Poetry Class, which was exciting. I’ve never been in a poetry class at Hindman. And all of you know how great a poet and instructor I think Denton is. We covered a different type of poetry every day, a lot of which stretched me out of my comfort zone, but I learned lots and wrote some things outside of what I would have normally written. After Denton’s class each day (except for Monday, when I had my one-on-one meeting with him), I audited memoir/nonfiction with Karen McElmurray. I’ve had Karen as an instructor before, both at Hindman and through the Carnegie Center. She’s a phenomenal instructor and really makes you think about things through different lenses. And, of course, at Hindman, it’s like a big Homecoming. My “Purples” piece had just come out in Cutleaf the previous week, so I read that at participant readings and it went over well. I roomed in an Airbnb in Hazard with Shelly, who I knew vaguely, but we’d become true friends by the end of the week. She was even sweet enough to drive us to and from campus each day. I got to see George Ella Lyon, which always makes my heart happy. It’s such an amazing pleasure to be in the presence of someone who speaks in poetry – and doesn’t even realize it. This year, her line that left me speechless was “We’re not cats to be petted, nor are we dogs to be trained, thank goodness.” Splendiferous! It made me think of writing groups, of how we’re not there to have our egos stroked, but we’re also not there to make every little change suggested. I believe they’re words to live by as a writer.
And the last week of August, I went to Table Rock Writers Workshop in Little Switzerland, NC. My friend Matt rode with me. It was eye-opening in regard to how hard-hit the area was by Hurricane Helene last September. Roads are still being repaired. Lots of new bridges. Remnants of old bridges and other things in creeks and other places. So much devastation… But the people of the region are resilient; they’re rebuilding and rebounding. It was heartening to see that after so much destruction in some of these little communities. The writing workshop itself was tremendous, as always. This marks the first year I’ve not worked with Denton, but since I was working with him at Hindman, I decided to switch it up at Table Rock and I took Short Story with Jill McCorkle. She also talked about a lot that I found helpful thinking about memoir. I might finish that Duran Duran memoir yet, lol! (Hope springs eternal!) Table Rock is another Homecoming to me. Much less stressful, more laidback, more introspective. It requires less energy but fills my soul. In fact, my first year there, I said it was the “Song of My Soul,” whereas Hindman has always been the “Home of My Heart.” They share some things, but they’re vastly different. I love them both, though, and hope I can continue going to both, at least a while longer. I’m blessed to be included in two writing communities that are so welcoming and have taught me so much over the years.
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