Back to School
It’s fall, which means back to school time, even for me.
I love this time of year, which reminds me of my own school days and my brief time as a teacher. (Saint Teresa Elementary students in the village of Leon: I’ll love you forever.)
All month I’ve enjoyed the morning parade of kids and parents past my window on their way to May Street Elementary. I missed seeing the families of my neighborhood on this daily walk last year, and it cheers me immensely to see them again.
But more than just remembering or spectating about school, I found myself in the classroom this month too.
The nice folks at the Hood River New School asked me to come talk to their students about writing, memoir, and my book How to Be a Sister. I was so please to be invited. I said something lofty (and perhaps bordering on smug) to Brendan about how there were three legs on the writing stool: doing my own writing, studying other writers, and mentoring new writers.
Those words came back to me as I lay awake in the middle of the night last week wondering just what in the hell I had to say about writing?
It’s a little depressing really, to think of all the hours and days and weeks and months I spend alone in my office doing this thing called “writing,” and yet struggling to articulate anything about it. It’s my favorite activity…or is it just an excuse to sit alone in my pajamas with the cat? Surely I could come up with a few useful tips for the fifth, sixth and seventh (and one eighth grade) students of the HRNS.
I made it through, with their kind help. We talked about the need for honesty in writing personal essay and memoir. We talked about how writing is messy and the best way into writing is through intentionally non-writing activities and what I like to call noodling—list making, journaling, and freewriting. My best tip: “Writing is like trying to put an octopus in a pillow case!” seemed to fall flat, but it maybe it will make sense to them some other time. In return for my tips, I got the joy of watching 32 small humans noodling, heads down, pens on paper, and not a screen in sight.
There are lots of other back to the school of writing activities happening this fall that I’m excited about.
Here in Oregon, the Portland Book Festival will happen November 8-13 with some in-person events. Hooray!
Also in Portland, writer Lidia Yuknavitch’s Corporeal Writing studio is offering in-person and virtual generative classes. For me, these generative classes are perfect for fall, when I like to dig in and start new projects.
I have some events of my own this season too.
On October 16, I’ll be at the Montana Book Festival in virtual conversation with Karen Buley, author of Perimenopausal Women with Power Tools (Free registration here.)
On October 21, I’ll be hosted by Richmond County Reads in Batavia, New York.
On November 21, I’ll be in person at the Wild Arts Festival in Portland. (So excited to see people in person at this event!)
I continue to enjoy popping in to book clubs in person and on Zoom, so if your book club would like to talk about The Music of Bees or How to Be a Sister, please drop me a line.
Happy writing, happy reading, and happy fall!