I’m really excited to be teaching a memoir writing workshop Saturday December 28th, 2019 inside the Sou’Wester Lodge. It’s $30 and runs from 11a.m. to 3p.m. Please bring a photo printed on paper of yourself that is more than 5 years old. Please join me for a powerful writing experience exploring a snapshot from your own life.
The last workshop I taught at Sou’Wester was “Poetry Through List Making” and it was a blast, so I was very happy to teach another workshop this winter. In anticipation of the workshop, I was able to take a Writer Residency inside the lodge this past June. It was a huge treat and I’m so glad I did it.
I brought a writing project to work on and hoped that I wouldn’t be too distracted to finish it. At the time, I was working on a piece for a zine project at The Astoria Studio Collective where I have my writing studio. The theme of the very short memoir piece was set in the 80s, and the Sou’Wester Lodge was the perfect place to conjure up those memories.
Since I live in Astoria, I’ve taken workshops at Sou’Wester, seen amazing concerts (I was lucky enough to see Ural Thomas and the Pain one time–it was ahhhhmaazing), been a vendor at the craft bazaar, used the sauna and taken workshops but I’ve never stayed at the lodge. I guess that I didn’t realize that such a short drive could equal a complete break from such a busy hectic life just across the pond.
Once I got to my room, I was greeted by Willie on my nightstand. I could tell it was going to be a great stay. After settling in with the amber light wafting into my room, I took a walk on the beach and through the neighborhood to the local IGA.
This short trip to the store took me back to my youth (and the 80s) and put me square in the headspace I needed to write my piece. I didn’t even know IGA still existed and this average trip to the grocery store felt like a trip to the past on a time machine. For one thing, “Daisy Jane” by America was playing loudly in the store. Straight back to my childhood.
I saw products I thought were long extinct anywhere but the feed store like “Mane n’ Tale” shampoo. It brought me back to my days in my horse 4-H Club.
When I got back, I browsed the VHS selection and picked out ET which put me even deeper in the 80s frame of mine to write my piece.
The whole experience was more relaxing and cozy than I could have imagined. And–bonus–I finished my piece while I was there!