Away to VCCA

Five years ago I was lucky enough to be a fellow for a monthlong residency at the beautiful Virginia Center for Creative Arts in Amherst, Virginia. I am returning there soon for a shorter residency this fall, and so thankful. This political climate has been awful in so many ways, but among the ways life is a little worse now is the fact that the 24-hour news cycle is filled with things any thinking person can and should be outraged about. Creative work gets pushed aside because of everyday work and responsibilities, plus the added stress of wondering whether or not hundreds of thousands of kids are about to be deported, a nuclear bomb is about to explode, or another white supremacist rally is about to take place. Going to work in a studio in a pasture in Virginia won’t solve any of that, but if I can turn off the internet and my phone for most of every day, and someone is making meals and cleaning up for me, I might actually write something new. Which would be great. And the stars are beautiful in Virginia.

(The photo above is my studio years ago in the Barn, where I wrote a whole new draft of a manuscript. Information about the residency is in the link below)

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