One of the pleasures of writing this column is getting to meet new people and talk seriously about writing and the purpose of literature. Especially when it’s in a coffee spot. I am well known for making terrible coffee, so I love the excuse to have coffee out. I'm a writer, after all; that’s what we do. Hang out in coffee shops and scribble things down. Look pensive and thoughtful.
I had the pleasure of meeting Abigail Mandlin, who moved here recently. A native of the Pacific Northwest, she completed her Bachelors in English at Portland State, and her MFA in Creative Writing at the University of Washington.
Doing an MFA program is an intense experience, requiring an enormous amount of reading and writing. Producing a book of fiction, poetry, or essays is a requirement for the degree, and it is very stressful. Imagine being depressed, having writer's block, and staring at this deadline. What would you do? Well, for Abigail, you’d pick up your feet and travel. Plan to visit the places of authors that matter to you, where they lived and wrote, and where their resting places are. Hopefully, draw inspiration from a pilgrimage of this kind. Unblock your words and take to writing again. The product of that effort is her book Muses, published by Atmosphere press.
The book is engaging but leaves the reader with more questions than answers. What moves her toward these trips, given the horror she has for flying, is a little unclear. It’s as if the author is holding the reader at arm’s length, giving out only the tidbits needed to move the story along. I hope in future work, she expands on the world she is creating and really invites the reader in.
Her literary magazine, Hearts on Our Sleeves, put out its first issue this year with the theme “Blood Pressure.” Featuring pieces from authors all over, it is a slim but deep magazine. Mandlin’s goal is to feature burgeoning authors in an effort to build community. Publishing work provides a point of entry for writers, to gain credibility and acceptance from peers, she says.
The magazine is accepting submissions for the next volume with the theme of Collide-Oscope. “It's our own little invention, describing worlds, events, people, or whatever you can imagine coming together in a burst of brightness and color. We want to see the rawness of opposing personalities, the very shrapnel coming off universes as they clash.” Hearts on Our Sleeves takes fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and is open to emerging and unpublished authors.
In the world we live now, clashes and the results of same are all around us. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to find some beauty in some of them? To imagine beauty in opposing ideas or places? Here’s your chance!
As the days get shorter and colder, I’m curious about what you all are reading? What keeps you going during the Dark Wet of the PNW? Are you in a book club? Have you tried a silent book reading group? Let me know!
The Olympia Poetry Network is bringing Gary Lilley to town on Oct 16th for a poetry of place workshop.
Amy Lewis focuses on the literary world of Thurston County, spotlighting writers, small presses, book artists, poets, and storytellers of all types. Reach out to her – amy@thejoltnews.com – if you have a literary event, book, or reading.
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