Residency wellspring

Residency wellspring

What could be better than three weeks in a gorgeous setting with 20 visual artists and writers?

I just returned from a writing residency at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. I’m still pinching myself for my good fortune. VCCA gave us time, that scarce commodity we all crave, and space. Each of us had our own studio and bedroom, as well as three meals a day provided by a spectacular cooking team.

The view out my studio door.

I have warm feelings toward VCCA: While there in 2017 and 2018 I worked on multiple drafts of my forthcoming novel, Three Muses.

This visit, I arrived deep into a new novel and tried to finish a first draft. Although I made progress and solved some major dilemmas, I didn’t succeed in finishing that draft. That’s how it goes—you can’t rush the process.

Taking a page of the novel-in-process off the printer.

I met extraordinary artists working in pulp and silk and oil and acrylic and enamel, and writers whose work ranged from book-length political nonfiction, to poetry, to play writing. More than their specific creative endeavors—which were fascinating—were the residents’ warm, loving, supportive, and thoughtful approaches to their life and work. To say I found my time at VCCA inspiring is an understatement. I experienced only one major conflict—whether to stay up all night talking to the riveting company, or to hole up in my studio for 12 hours a day. I did some of both and enjoyed every minute.

I have several reviews in process about books I think you’ll love. (More on next time.) Meanwhile, I read two books at VCCA that I highly recommend. I listened to Brandi Carlisle’s Broken Horses, which she narrates replete with her own wonderful soundtrack. Brandi is a humanitarian, which comes across on every page.

I also loved Olga Dies Dreaming by Xochitl Gonzalez. This debut novel follows a sister and brother, members of a Brooklyn-based activist Puerto Rican family, as they try to make sense of their mother’s abandonment for the cause of a free PR. Olga, the sister and main protagonist, is a smart, compelling character, who confronts her demons with humor and love. The book is terrific.

Finally, I want to pay homage to a mentor to many—including me—who was a revered writer, teacher, friend, and overall mensch. Faye Moskowitz taught past her 90th year and died this week at age 91. I had the good fortune to meet Faye on several occasions, and finally to be in her classroom when she was in her late 80s. She was warm and sharp, and never withheld criticism. That, combined with a wicked sense of humor and an extraordinary life story, made her a magnet to anyone who knew her.

Here’s to inspiration for all of us!
Love, Martha