Welcome to November and a new Sunday of poems for your coffee-drinking pleasure.
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| Photo by my partner Heather |
Thank you to EVERY. SINGLE. PERSON. who came to the open house tonight at The Hive. It was a fantastic, alive, moving place, and I felt absolutely and impossibly lucky to be a part of it. The Hive has given me what I've always known I needed--a place where visual artists who talk like I talk, think in ways I tend to think, despite my being a writer instead of a painter. It is so difficult to find those people when the genres don't tend to group each other like that. Anyway. It was fantastic.
Miguel Gonzales wasn't present in our studio space this go-around, but luckily, he has many examples of his past work, and I led tours of his space to the best of my ability. On our shared counter, I set up a tidy version of what the path looks like from beginning to publication of a book, from early notes, to reading, to viewing art, to early drafts (cut and taped together), to later drafts. Many passersby bought books and chapbooks from my space. The discussions were wonderful, meeting so many people felt like a version of living I only vaguely remember, and being able to talk out my current project with an old and new friend felt easy and worthwhile, and I'm so glad I could articulate my project (not easy at its earliest incantations) and now I'm now reeling with its tangibility and possibilities.
The Hive will likely do more open-house events on First Fridays or other days of the month, so stay tuned for more opportunities to explore, discover, and enjoy this space.
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| From https://gwarlingo.com/donate-page-format/you-re-invited-retro/ |
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| From Spokesman Review article on Ribbon-Cutting (Click on caption to read.) |
First Fridays: On the first Friday of every month in Spokane, artists, studios, and artist-friendly spaces open their doors and invite community members to enjoy the art therein. Often, artists are present to talk with visitors about their work. .
The Hive: The Hive is Spokane library's newest building and contemporary way of thinking about the way a library can support its community's needs. The Hive features six artist studios where local artists can take up space for six months or less in order to work on projects. The studios are awarded through an application process.
The Invitation: This month, I'd love to extend the invitation from The Hive to come visit the new building and its artist studios. Many of us will be present to show you around our spaces and answer questions about our ongoing projects.
My Writing Space: Visitors can step into the writing space I've made for my current project by browsing my books, viewing my visual notes, and asking anything about writing that you'd like. I'll have a writing space and special prompts for you to try out yourself. You can also buy a copy of The Floating Order, The Whole World at Once, or Hezada! I Miss You and other surprises.
Most importantly, I'd love to see your face.
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| Selfie in my studio space |
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Happy Halloween, ghouls, ghosts, and poetry poltergeists. Welcome to this holiday's session of Wake to Words and Brew Some Coffee, where I read good poems by other people while we all drink coffee.
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Every Sunday morning, I read good poems by other people while we all drink coffee. Here's the session for October 24, 2021. Thanks for watching!
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Among the pages you'll stumble across my story Digging, which first appeared in Lake Effect literary journal and then in my first collection of stories, The Floating Order (Two Ravens Press, 2009).
"In the surreal ‘Digging’ a young brother and sister try to come to terms with their homicidal mother and search for ways out of their imminent dispatch" (John Kenny in his larger review of the collection)
The stories in Erin Pringle's The Floating Order focus on images and ideas frequently linked in Western literature--fairy tales and reality, madness and imagination, death and children. Stories such as "All I Have Left" and "Digging," with the repetition of the title phrase in the former and, in both, systematic, but vivid and mythic plots, echo the way confessional poets Anne Sexton and Sylvia Plath dealt with what then seemed disparate connections between the madness inherent in fairy tales and childhood experience. (Rene LeBlanc, in her review of The Floating Order entitled "Veneration of madness" from Texas Books in Review, 2009)
Order Evergreen for you and your friend who appreciates interesting gifts, visit Scablands Books: http://www.scablandsbooks.org/shop/b17subrwlflejnyyb5pmnf4xieaxix
P.S. Should you go looking for The Floating Order, you'll need to find it in used bookstores or from used online sellers, as the publisher went out of business several years ago. So, it's especially nice to have a story rescued from its bound grave and asked to breathe again.
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Every Sunday morning, I read good poems by other people while we all drink coffee. Here's the session for October 17, 2021.
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Last Sunday, we didn't have poetry because I was under the weather, or the weather was on top of me. Either way, I'm better, and so here's another Sunday morning of coffee and words. Thanks for checking back in and all the positive feedback. Have a lovely week!
Wake to Words and Brew Some Coffee (October 3, 2021)
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Wake to Words and Brew Some Coffee (9/19/21)
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Wake to Words and Brew Some Coffee (9/5/21)
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| Photo by Spokane Public Library |
Good news! I've been awarded a writing residency (my first ever) at The Hive, a new Spokane Public Library building and non-traditional library space.
The Hive houses six artist studios, free meeting rooms, a kitchen, and offices for the Spokane Schools Virtual Learning staff. It's a beautiful, modern building and so new it's hard to be inside it without deep feelings of elation (I mean, old buildings can bring elation, too, but specifically, the elation that newness and possibility bring).
The artist studios are built specifically for artists--from exhaust systems, automatic garage doors for easy moving, utility sinks, to soundproof walls.
I'm in the first cohort of artists, artists I'm damn lucky to be counted among--artists who range from weavers to painters to a Salish canoe builder. As I have a small footprint in terms of space, one of the artists, a photographer, is sharing his space with me.
Space!
For the next six months, I have a dedicated space for my writing. Since the pandemic began, I've not been able to write in the coffee shop or diner at all--or even attempted it during that "lull" before The Delta Variant began. Of course, pre-pandemic, I spent 99.7% of writing time in diners or coffee shops--from The Coffee Grounds in Terre Haute, Indiana to The Coffee Pot in San Marcos, Texas, to Jacob's Java on Monroe in Spokane.
Now I have a clear space that does not overlap with my family's space (and sounds and wishes and my own feelings of guilt for writing instead of vacuuming). Back in June when I learned I'd received a residence, I became more tuned-in on my next book, which I have been working on for several years now (notes, scenes, starting it again this way or that way or this way or that). But once I knew I could and had to work on it and in a specific place, whatever dam released. And it's been wonderful to feel as though I'm back in my old mind. Or to recognize the wallpaper in that mind's waiting room where ideas patiently sit until the words are called up.
As it took over fifteen years to write my last novel--albeit interspersed with two story collections, a cross-country move, a child, and work--this time I'd like to knock the next novel out in less time. What seemed perfect about this residency is that it's in the city where I live. Most residencies require out-of-state travel, a cleared calendar wherein one can afford not to work (and somehow pay the mortgage), and can leave their family behind (so, assumedly not for artists/writers with families or young children, as those are typically not welcome). To do this requires either a job that has sabbatical, an ability to juggle multiple aspects of life, and/or older children and a support system that lives nearby. I mean, it is awesome that residencies exist, and keep them running, folks; I'm just noting that there are barriers that prevent many artists/writers/musicians from participating.
So, all of this is to say that today I moved into my new creative space. I'll keep you abreast of the experience. As part of the residency, I'll be giving a few presentations (virtual and perhaps in-person), so stay tuned.
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Today's reading is dedicated to Kathy and Bob
Wake to Words and Brew Some Coffee (8/8/21)
Good morning! Every Sunday morning, we gather with our coffee while I read good poems by other people. Today's session features a selection of children's poetry. My son Henry Valentine joined in and helped read poems.
Guest: Henry Valentine
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Have a wonderful Sunday! Here's today's session of poetry.
Wake to Words and Brew Some Coffee (July 18, 2021)
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