The Earth Of

It was an honor to BE with this incredibly gifted and accomplished group of artists. I watched as they worked through the craft and process and pedagogy and style and voice of a diverse spectrum of authors ranging from M. Norbese Phillips to Gertrude Stein to Barbara Guest to Akilah Oliver to Jack Collum to Amiri Baraka to Cecilia Vicuna. What emerged in their responses to the writing, both in their own work and the group discussions was astonishing. There is no question that the crises we face as a global nation inhabited this experience. The writer will write the unsaid whether they realize this or not. There is also no question, that under the right set of circumstances, the virtual geography we have been forced to inhabit, that we presume splits us apart, may also serve to cleave us together. The universal bond of sharing that connects all humanity is alive and well even if we can’t physically touch each other or or literally inhale each other’s breaths as we intently listen and witness this novel shared experience.