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“I think that literature is really needed, and art in general. It’s saying something that cannot be said in any other way, and that’s why you do it.” In this interview, Norwegian author Jon Fosse, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2023, talks about how music inspired him to write at a young age, and how pauses and silences are used to generate rhythm in his work.
“In each of my close relationships, I feel like I get to be a different version of myself.” In this Books Are Magic event, Lilly Dancyger speaks with Leslie Jamison about how she tackled writing about her closest friendships in her first essay collection, First Love: Essays on Friendship (Dial Press, 2024), which is featured in Page One in the May/June issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.
Taleamor Park offers two- to four-week residencies from April to September to poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers on a working grain farm and nature preserve with walking paths in northwestern Indiana between the towns of La Porte and Rolling Prairie, near Lake Michigan and Chicago. Residents are provided with a private room in a restored 1854 brick Italianate house, work space, and a shared kitchen and bathroom. Residents have access to Taleamor’s library and the La Porte County Public Library.
Taleamor Park, P.O. Box 456, LaPorte, IN 46352. Clifford Peterson and Lisa Lee Peterson, Codirectors.
The Celia and Wally Gilbert Artist-in-Residence Program offers residencies of one to three weeks year-round to poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers looking to “explore the scientific process and interact with international scientific staff and visitors” at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) on the wooded north shore of Long Island, New York. Residents are provided with a dorm room, a private bathroom, all meals, and a $1,000 to $1,500 stipend, depending on availability and the length of the stay.
Celia and Wally Gilbert Artist-in-Residence Program, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Library and Archives, 1 Bungtown Road, Cold Spring Harbor, NY 11724. Tricia Loria, Fellowship Coordinator.
The Writers Studio, sponsored by the UCLA Extension Writers’ Program, was held from August 1 to August 4 on the UCLA campus in Los Angeles. The conference featured workshops in fiction and creative nonfiction as well as a literary agent search preparatory course led by former literary agent Eve Porinchak. Workshop instructors included fiction writers Lesley Hyatt and Wally Rudolph and nonfiction writers Shawna Kenney and Sehba Sarwar. The cost of the conference was $985. A list of suggested transportation and hotel options is available on the conference website.
UCLA Extension Writers Studio, 1145 Gayley Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90024. (310) 825-9415. Nutschell Anne Windsor, Program Manager.
The Guanajuato Writing Retreat was held from September 22 to September 29 at the Florecer Casitas in Guanajuato, the hilly capital city of Guanajuato state, in Mexico’s high plateau region. The theme for the 2024 retreat was “Renewing Ourselves.” Programming (limited to eight writers) included workshops, a reading with local writers, guided exploratory writing sessions led by poet Bonnie Wolkenstein, local excursions to destinations including La Cañada de la Virgen, and independent time to write for poets, fiction writers, creative nonfiction writers, and translators.
Guanajuato Writing Retreat, 7511 Greenwood Avenue North, #321, Seattle, WA 98103. (206) 914-1444. Bonnie Wolkenstein, Workshop Leader.
The 2024 Willamette Writers Conference was held online and in person at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Downtown Portland from July 31 to August 4. The conference featured workshops, keynotes, panels, pitch sessions, and critiques for poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers. The faculty included poet Christopher Luna; fiction writers Emmeline Duncan, Molly Gloss, and Sonja Thomas; and fiction and nonfiction writers Ted Chiang and Miriam Gershow. Fiction writer Jess Walter and publishing professional and nonfiction writer Jane Friedman delivered the keynote addresses.
Willamette Writers Conference, 5331 South Macadam Avenue, Suite 258, PMB 215, Portland, OR 97239.
Nearly fifty years ago, the writer George Perec spent three days sitting behind a café window in Place Saint-Sulpice in Paris recording everything he saw. In his short book, An Attempt at Exhausting a Place in Paris, his observations of mundane occurrences and objects often considered unnoteworthy—passersby, cars, buses, pigeons, signs, and slogans—are documented. This week situate yourself in one spot, perhaps in your home or workplace, or in a public space like a park, busy crossroad, commercial area, library, or café. Then, jot down the objects and behavior you see, and the snippets of conversation you hear. Write a lyric essay composed of these notes, trying to avoid interpretations or analysis. Taken together, how do your observations create a portrayal of a specific time or place? Pay particular attention to how one observation might lead to another, and to potential rhythms and repetitions.
The author of First Love: Essays on Friendship explores ways to handle lost memories in memoir.
The maintenance or restoration of native plant and animal species has long been at the heart of many ecological and conservation projects, and has historically been a focus of land and environmental stewardship principles held by native and first peoples all over the world. But what if a beloved plant or animal is considered invasive, like the palm trees of Los Angeles or the cattle of Texas? What are the effects or consequences of centuries of existence with this invasive species in a particular locale? This week reflect on the notion of belonging—what are various places and times when you have felt a strong sense of belonging, and situations when you did not feel you belonged? Consider your own perspectives and responses when you encounter someone or something else that seems invasive or does not belong.
