My mother’s mystery
Michele Filgate, editor of the gorgeous anthology What My Mother and I Don’t Talk About (Simon & Schuster, 2019), included this essay about my mother and her intense “friendship” with the abstract painter Haywood “Bill” Rivers. My mother knew Rivers before she met my father, but she spoke of him to me through much of my life.
I think she concealed as she much as she revealed. Including the ending. And her regrets.
And it may have mattered, for the end of her 1950s-era story, that she was white and Bill Rivers was Black.
Soon after this essay appeared in the antho and here on longreads.com, a researcher mailed me two typewritten letters he’d found in an archive from my mother to Bill Rivers. Reading them, I could feel how she’d loved him, despite her sparky tone; I could see that this “friendship” was in truth an affair.
It’s no longer new. But I’ve been thinking about it lately because Michele is doing a new antho, What My Father and I Don’t Talk About. If you follow the link, I hope you enjoy the work.
Grief and Reading
The New York Times Book Review published my essay on reading–or, rather, on ceasing to read–as my parents became increasingly ill and then passed away in 2014.
New Page After Page Workshops July 25-26, 2015
Offered in a beautiful apartment in Greenwich Village, with inspiring views of the city, our workshops are productive, focused, and lively.
We’re writers (15+ books between us). And we’re passionate, committed teachers, eager to pass along what we’ve learned (combined, 40+ years of writing, editing, publishing, and teaching).
Our co-taught classes are intimate and personal. During the course of the day we talk deeply about craft and technique (handouts, materials, and chocolate provided) and also about process—how to prepare for a productivewriting session, how to get un-stuck, how to revise effectively. The atmosphere is supportive, positive, and kind. Courses are content-rich and interactive, combining instruction and practice, discussion and response.
Every workshop we teach allows time for Q & A so each student’s questions are answered, fully. You’ll leave with new work and new energy for your creative projects, a pile of exercises, and a list of books to read.
Saturday, July 25, 10 am – 5 pm $325
Creative Flow: Writing in Deep Focus
Discover how writers tap into creative flow. Learn how to harness the power of the unconscious and access “writer’s mind.” Working intentionally to maintain creative flow means fewer drafts and less frustration. You truly can work more efficiently and more effectively with a deeper awareness of the practices that support concentration. In this one-day workshop, through a sequence of in-class writing exercises, discover six simple, practical techniques to increase your powers of concentration and focus.
Sunday, July 26, 9:30 am – 1:30 pm $275
Micro-Memoir Writing Intensive
Micro-memoir is a powerful,shapely personal narrative—in 750 words or fewer. Hone your ability to compress, focus, and write tight. And learn how litany, structure, and crisp use of detail can interlock in this exhilarating form. We work hard and the atmosphere is inspiring and encouraging. During the workshop, you’ll draft three pieces using new strategies. We offer guidance and suggest prompts—but you are free to write what you wish. We’ll present unique approaches for revision. And we’ll give you tips for publishing these short essays.
Both Workshops $540
Creative Flow is not a prerequisite for any of our other courses. We always welcome our returning students.
Your check holds your place. Refund if we can fill your spot.
Please contact Heather Sellers at heatherellesellers@gmail.com or Dylan Landis at dylanlandis@gmail.com.
Private Workshop Intensives in NYC, Spring 2014
I.
CREATIVE FOCUS: A one-day intensive for memoir and fiction writers
waitlisted!
Saturday May 10, 2014
10 a.m. – 5 p.m. in a private Greenwich Village home
$300
Improve the quality and depth of your work by learning how to practice creative focus. Discover how writers harness the power of the unconscious and access “writer’s mind.” Fewer drafts, less frustration—we can work more efficiently and more effectively as we deepen our awareness of our subconscious creative potential. In this one-day workshop, through a sequence of in-class writing exercises, you’ll learn six simple, practical techniques to increase your powers of concentration and focus, jumpstart a work-in-progress, launch new work, and enrich a scene in revision.
II.
TALK TO ME: A one-day intensive for memoir and fiction writers
Saturday May 17, 2014
With apologies this workshop has been postponed.
10 a.m. – 5 p.m. in a private Greenwich Village home
$300
Everything you need to create powerful prose can be honed by studying dialogue. Everything critical to memoir and fiction—character, conflict, plot, setting, subtext—is interwoven with dialogue. In this one-day intensive we’ll examine dialogue by contemporary and classic authors and discuss the three techniques that give dialogue its power to create the spine of a scene. We’ll write scenes that jumpstart new work or continue a work in progress. And we’ll learn a critical technique for accessing the subconscious and channeling the voices of your characters.
For more information or to enroll
We’re writers (15+ books between us). And we’re passionate, committed teachers, eager to pass along what we’ve learned (combined, 40+ years of writing, publishing, and teaching). We would like to invite you to our small private workshops in New York City.
Our co-taught classes are intimate (always limited to six) and personal. Students gather around a gorgeous Art Deco table in a Greenwich Village home. During the course of the day we talk deeply about craft and technique (handouts, materials, and chocolate provided) and also about process—how to prepare for a writing session, how to get un-stuck, how to revise effectively. The atmosphere is supportive, positive, and kind. But we work hard: courses are content-rich and interactive, combining instruction and practice, discussion and critique.
Together, we study stellar writers, both classic and contemporary, and we’ll write in class, and respectfully discuss each other’s work. Every workshop we teach allows time for Q & A so each student’s questions are answered, fully. You’ll leave with new work and new energy for your creative projects, a pile of exercises, and a list of books to read.
You’ll learn to write more efficiently, to get more from the time you can spare to write in your daily life, and to concentrate and stay focused, so you spend less time in revision. At the end of the day, you’ll have the tools you need to jumpstart new work and keep it flowing on your own.
*
Our one-day Saturday workshop intensives are $300 per person.
Your check reserves your spot.
Real life happens. Full refund if we fill your spot from the wait list.
Class size is limited to six.
Class starts at 10 am sharp; doors open at 9:45 am.
Our morning and afternoon sessions are punctuated by short breaks (coffee and tea will be available) and divided by ample time for lunch on your own at a local restaurant (or gathered around the table, as you wish).
Class concludes at 5 pm.
For more information or to enroll contact