Meet me in Newburyport
plus two very good books
It’s the Newburyport Literary Festival this weekend (full schedule of events here). I will be appearing in person on Saturday at 11:30 AM with Festival organizer Jill Gross. Jill and I went to high school together and reconnected when she joined Studio—where I heard her write this fantastic piece, which has since been published! I am thrilled and honored that she invited me to be a part of the festival. If any of you are in or around Newburyport, MA, I’d love to see you there!
And if you are not in or around Newburyport, there are lots of free virtual events scheduled for Sunday, including the festival’s FIRST free virtual creative writing workshop led by Terri Trespicio and me!
The Gateless Workshop: A Creative, Critic-Free Approach to Writing & Craft
Sunday, 4/28 9:30 – 11:00a ET
Have you ever felt the deep urge to write, but couldn’t? Do you question your work and find yourself stuck? It’s not that you “can’t” write, but that you’re conditioned to judge it before it has a chance.
Come experience a fresh, critic-free approach to writing and craft unlike any other you’ve experienced. Discover what can happen when you open the gates to your writing, and find your flow again.
(Psst. It's really a taste of The Studio; so if you're thinking of trying it out, definitely come!)
All events are free and open to the public. You just need to register here for the link!
Looking ahead….
On Thursday May 9 at 6:30, I will be at Symposium Books in Providence, RI for an author talk and book signing. If you are in the area, I’d *love* to see you!
Two books I read recently and loved:
Leaving by Roxana Robinson. I currently have several text threads going with people who are reading or who have read LEAVING. It’s the kind of book you want to force on people so you have someone to talk about it with. The story of Sarah and Warren, high school sweethearts who meet and fall in love again in their 60s. Sarah is divorced, Warren is not. Complications ensue. As Zorba says, “the full catastrophe.” Deeply human and painful, LEAVING is the sort of book you can’t put down even when you want to. This is how grown ups write plot—there are no car crashes or explosions, no dead body discovered on the first page, but plenty happens. There’s a reason the book opens at the opera. I was thrilled to be in conversation with Roxana last night at Athena Books where we had a fantastic and spoiler-filled discussion of the book. People had opinions…
North Woods by Daniel Mason. Oh wow. This book. I almost didn’t pick it up because the description—the story of a house in the woods of New England over the course of centuries—sounded a little dry. But as soon as I started it, I couldn’t put it down. Inventive and funny and spooky and so so human, this book is kind of a miracle written by an absolute genius. Unbelievably good. Read it NOW.
Newburyport ❤️
I don’t know if you read my Modern Love, but the person I was writing about lives five minutes away.
Hope it’s a great time!
I just bought Leaving based on your comments! I started reading it when I only had a few minutes to pick it up, and I feel like I need to carve out a couple of hours where I can just read it and do nothing else! The writing really draws you in. I’ve been picking up and putting down North Woods. I feel like I need to carve out a chunk of time to spend with that one, too.