writing – Page 4 – The Trailer Park MFA

A Matter of Belief

On Saturday night, I attended Elliott Bay Book Company’s 40th Anniversary reading. Seattle authors Jim Lynch, Ryan Boudinot, and Maria Semple read from their latest novels, all published within the past year. Bookstore staff sliced cake and passed plates. They poured glasses of wine. And everyone sang the praises of Seattle and its literary culture.Continue reading “A Matter of Belief”

Poetry in the Garden

When I read the world’s first novel The Tale of Genji, I was a skeptic. Characters spoke to one another in lines of poetry. Romantic, sure—but unlikely. Until my stroll through the Seattle Japanese Garden on Sunday. I realized Lady Murasaki knew her stuff, and she was doing a lot more than building literary allusions. Suddenly,Continue reading “Poetry in the Garden”

That Sound

My grandfather loved Glenn Miller. As a Mobil service station man, he respected how Miller had worked as a poor musician and composer all through his twenties and early thirties, never getting much of anywhere. “But he was always looking,” Grandpa said, “looking for that sound.” Grandpa understood that a man could be looking forContinue reading “That Sound”

Getting Back Up Again

“Sometimes it is necessary / to reteach a thing its loveliness, / to put a hand on its brow / of the flower / and retell it in words and in touch / it is lovely.” I love these lines from Galway Kinnell’s poem “St. Francis and the Sow.” They’re good to keep in your pocket. JustContinue reading “Getting Back Up Again”

Beyond Tragedy

In her final lecture on Shakespeare’s tragedies, Clare Kinney posits that the Bard, in his late plays, “writes beyond tragedy.” An aging Shakespeare takes the material of his earlier plays–usurped thrones, suspected infidelity, a banished daughter–and reworks it. Classic tragedy is all about choice and the irrevocable consequences of those choices. Time unfurls in onlyContinue reading “Beyond Tragedy”

What Opens Us Up Makes Us Stronger

“Vulnerability is the birthplace of innovation, creativity, and change.” Brene Brown I carry this in my pocket now. A few weeks back, I watched Brown’s TED talk “Listening to Shame.” It’s a good reminder–that playing it safe never gets you anywhere. Those places you resist going, the times you’re most terrified of falling flat onContinue reading “What Opens Us Up Makes Us Stronger”

Trauma and Compassion

What if the value of our suffering–its use–is that it gifts us with compassion? I think all along I have taken the wrong approach. As a writer, I believed I was writing about my suffering. But the truth of suffering is that it is the collective, common experience of our species–and indeed of life. Akira Kurosawa wrote,Continue reading “Trauma and Compassion”

Repotting

So when Bob told me to start writing down my story last week, I didn’t know where this would take me. It was a leap of faith. A surrender, an act of trust in a teacher. The first few days were the hardest. All darkness in there, digging up roots, examining the soil. It wasn’tContinue reading “Repotting”

On Death and Defiance

A few years back I attended a reading by Carolyn Jessop who had escaped a fundamentalist Mormon community. Piled her children in a van in the middle of the night and made a run for it. She’d written her memoir, published as Escape (2008), and now was reading at Third Place Books. She had receivedContinue reading “On Death and Defiance”

Extreme Sport: Facing Your Fears

So I’ve been on a writing retreat with my novel the last few days and am glad to get back to blogging! And from the quiet space of that retreat, I return to say yet again: one of the most terrifying things about the artistic process is its vulnerability. If you’ve ever seen The King’s Speech,Continue reading “Extreme Sport: Facing Your Fears”