Daylight savings
More of a postcard than a letter this week
More of a postcard than a letter this week because I'm running out of time here at Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. I'll be home in two more sleeps!
I didn't quite finish the novella but I got pretty damn far and of course I won't finish it tonight, or tomorrow, or even on the eight-hour Amtrak ride home, but I will get as far as I can.
They tell writers – "No one is waiting for your book" – but a few of you have told me you are, so there.
I've been thinking a lot about WHY this book is a novella (or a short novel) and not a memoir and I think it's because the novella is a container for imagining an alternate life. It's an act of the imagination, a mash-up, a collage, and why do we make collages? Because they are fun!
It's been a long time since I thought of the novella as FUN, but it is and I do and I suppose that's one reason people go to residencies. To find again the energy of a project, the energy that can get lost if you are working on something for a very long time.
BRAVA to me, if I do say so myself, and to be continued –
As seen from the Appalachian Trail, which passes by Twin Oaks Farm.
ABOUT
Divinity School • a letter every Sunday at sunset • if you’re always looking, after some time you’ll have seen
I make Divinity School from scratch without AI. The writing and the photos here are all my work, always. Thank you for reading, please share near and far, and upgrade to a paid subscription if you can swing it!
Paid subscriptions support my writing practice – up next, "More is more: revision as a generative act," a workshop with Danielle Lazarin at Writing Co-Lab.
NEWSY STUFF
Tomorrow, Monday, March 9, I'll be sharing my work at VCCA Connects at Riverviews Artspace in Lynchburg, VA, along with composer Andrea Clearfield and translator Kurt Beals, current VCCA fellows. You can also check out PRESENTLY, an international group show featuring two VCCA alumni, at Riverviews through March 15! If you happen to be in the area, join us!
The next day, I head home to Ilya and Bobina, after 4 weeks of writing at VCCA!
JUNCO AND WOLF, a story inspired by my year studying in Moscow, is forthcoming in Issue No. 33 of A Public Space. Stay tuned for a pub date and order link.
Free but required RSVP is live for the April 1 (new date) launch party for SEARCH WORK: A Collective Inquiry into the Job Hunt, edited by Rachel Meade Smith (OR Books, 2026), available for pre-order now and for sale at the event. My essay is in the book so YES I WILL sign your copy!
