Events
The Road Not YET Taken: Talk and Workshop
In Frost’s famous poem, he writes, “knowing how way leads on to way,/I doubted if I should ever come back.” How does way lead on to way in our work? If we were to go back to work-in-progress and pay close attention to, say, a sentence, a line, a phrase, a syllable, a phoneme, might we discover some other roads to take? And if we took one or another of these roads, would we have the courage to follow them to destinations we hadn’t intended or imagined before? Another way to think about this: if we found the road not yet taken and followed it, might it lead us from darkness to light, enslavement to freedom, concealment to revelation, from Egypt to Sinai?
In our session, we’ll look at some exemplary texts–mostly poems–, paying close attention to how they move from moment to moment. Then we’ll look at some of our work-in-progress, including work we started today, to see if we can hear or see some hints of roads not yet taken. Finally, we’ll do a little more writing, setting out on one or another of those roads to see where it leads.
This session will be grounded in several contemplative practices intended to help us listen and look attentively and receptively at the language in the works of others and our own work. These exercises might increase our ability to recognize the subtler roads taken in the work of others and to sense the possibility of roads not yet taken in our own work.
This session is part of a Pop-Up Writing Workshop sponsored by the Collegeville Institute. It will be held at Trinity Episcopal Church in Asheville, N.C. For more information, visit the Collegeville Institute website.
Writing Your Jewish Life
In this generative writing workshop, we’ll look at a few poems by some Jewish poets and then, based on what we see in those poems, begin writing our own Jewish poems. No experience with poetry necessary.
A Taste of Jewish Poetry: A Reading by Richard Chess
Richard Chess will read from his own work as well as from the work of a few other contemporary Jewish poets, including those who will be involved in the upcoming conference hosted by Yetzirah: A Hearth for Jewish Poetry.
Yetzirah Book Club: Roots in the Air: Shirley Kaufman with Alicia Ostriker, Carol Moldaw, and Special Guest Grace Schulman
Please join us for the next meeting of the Yetzirah Book Club. We’ll be discussing Shirley Kaufman’s Roots in the Air. We’ll be joined by Alicia Ostriker, Carol Moldaw, and special guest Grace Schulman. You can find out more information and details on the Yetzirah website: www.yetzirahpoets.org
Becoming Aware of Traveling Signals In the Forest and On the Page: A Workshop on Contemplative Reading
In this workshop, we’ll use several contemplative practices to read, respond to, and reflect on a short chapter from David Haskell’s The Forest Unseen: A Year’s Watch in Nature. We’ll see if reading itself can be approached as a practice similar to mindfulness practice. We may also see if a literary (non-fiction) text might enact some of the kinds of experiences one has when engaged in mindfulness and other types of contemplative practices. We’ll also explore ways of adapting the exercises we’ve experienced and reflected on in the morning to participants’ own disciplines.
AWP: Reading and Panel Presentation
Two events:
Tampa Review: Celebrating 54 Years of Poetry Publishing, Thursday, March 8, 4:30 - 5:45 p.m., Room 14, Tampa Convention Center, First Floor
The Ganesh in the Room: Speaking of Faith in the Literary Community, Saturday, March 10, 12 - 1:15 p.m., Room 12, Tampa Convention Center, First Floor
Visiting Contemplative Educator and Writer, University of Tampa
I will be leading contemplative practice workshops for faculty, students, and staff. I will also be university writer, doing a reading on love night, Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2018. More details can be found by contacting University of Tampa.
Poetry Reading, Black Mountain College Museum and Arts Center
A group reading including Tommy Hays, David Hopes, Eric Steineger, and Felice Lopez-Bell.
Reading and Talk
Reading and Talk to celebrate publication of Love Nailed to the Doorpost. Jointly sponsored by Congregation Beth Israel and Congregation Beth Ha Tephila.
“I Wait Only For . . .” : ACMHE Pre-Conference Contemplative Writing Session
I will be leading a pre-conference contemplative writing session at this year’s ACMHE Fall Conference, “Radicalizing Contemplative Education: Compassion, Intersectionality, and Justice in Challenging Times.” You can read more about the conference here: http://www.acmheconference.org/.
Here’s a short description of the session:
Using the last line of Norman Fischer’s interpretive translations of Psalm 27, “I wait only for you,” we’ll inquire into our experiences of waiting. What/who do we wait for? Where do we wait? What do we experience as we wait? We’ll use contemplative/reflective writing practices to description and explore our experiences of waiting. We may also conclude with a collaborative piece of writing on our experiences of waiting. Bring something to write with and something to write on/in.
I hope to see some of you at the conference!
Hollins University: Contemplative Practice Scholar-in-Residence
Faculty development workshops: Dwelling in Possibility: Contemplative Approaches to Reading and Writing (Friday afternoon) and Contemplative Inquiry and Well Being:
The Places and Times for Bodies, Hearts, Minds, and Spirits in the Classroom and Throughout the Campus (Saturday morning).
Reading at Malaprop's as part of the Writers at Home Series
I hope you can join me at Malaprop's where I'll be reading as part of the Writers at Home reading series on Sunday, Sept. 17, 2017 at 3:00 p.m.
On the Border: A Jewish Writing and Reading Workshop
Borders define and divide us. They can be sites of conflict, and they can be meeting places, where love, compassion, and kindness arise. Think of the threshold of a Jewish home, with its mezuzah affixed aslant there reminding us to love . . . and to compromise, to come together in a mutually agreed upon promise or intention, to make one out of two.
Portland State University Judaic Studies Commencement Reading
Portland State University Judaic Studies Commencement Reading
Tuesday, June 6, 2017
5:00 PM 7:00 PM
Portland State University (map)
Where Pleasure and Pain Meet: Jewish and Arab Poems of Co-Existence
It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.