Friends, I’m offering four one-afternoon creative writing workshops via Zoom in August and September. Click here for all the details. Maybe you should treat yourself to a three-hour creative reset – I’d love to see you in the Zoom room!
A few weeks ago I was on an MFA panel with three other writers, talking about the poems we had contributed to The Country in the Mirror: Poems of Protest & Witness. An audience member wondered how to approach difficult topics when writing for children.
Don’t be afraid of laughter, one of the writers said. Don’t be afraid of joy. My God, don’t we need it now more than ever? It felt as if the whole room exhaled when she said this, and I thought of this poem.
Postlude, by Rita Dove
Stay by the hearth, little cricket.
—Cendrillon
You prefer me invisible, no more than
a crisp salute far away from
your silks and firewood and woolens.
Out of sight, I’m merely an annoyance,
one slim, obstinate wrinkle in night’s
deepening trance. When sleep fails,
you wish me shushed and back in my hole.
As usual, you’re not listening: time stops
only if you stop long enough to hear it
passing. This is my business:
I’ve got ten weeks left to croon through.
What you hear is a lifetime of song.
Alison McGhee 
Hi Alison. I’m considering the poetry workshop for myself but meanwhile I have forwarded this to my grandson Henry. He came home from university and announced he is writing a trilogy. He’s on book one. ☺️ I have offered him a one hour consultation if he is interested and is ready for that. He told me a bit about the plot. It is set long in the future with pockets of humanity re-establishing some semblance of society after near annihilation. He was struggling with what genre it might fit under. I suggested speculative fiction.
Anyway, long explanation! He’s the kid who did the LEGO stop motion on the Titanic that has won awards and brings him some handy income. I don’t remember if I ever sent that to you. Sheilagh
*Sheilagh *
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Henry is amazing! I love watching from afar as he ventures into one cool thing after another. Speculative fiction sounds about right, from your description. Such a fascinating genre.
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