The Reset
I'm very pleased that my short essay about the oral history project and wedding planning was published by the Reset. Read about it here: https://thereset.com/punch-bowl/life-beyond-wedding-planning/
That's all for now!
Other Writing
It's been a busy month! As I continue to work my way through all of the interviews, I've also embarked on freelance writing. And I've been extremely fortunate to have published two pieces this month. Enjoy!
Hiking with Stonewall
https://sonderers.com/spring-nature/hiking-with-stonewall
The King of Michigan Avenue
http://www.humansandnature.org/the-king-of-michigan-avenue
Musings
I recently subscribed to Maria Popova's Brainpickings newsletter. I highly recommend checking it out. Every Sunday, a thoughtful newsletter comes out that is well worth a read.
This week, Maria Popova came out with an essay "Rebecca Solnit on Breaking Silence as Our Mightiest Weapon Against Oppression." In the meditation about silence and society, this quotation really spoke to me: "The task of calling things by their true names, of telling the truth to the best of our abilities, of knowing how we got here, of listening particularly to those who have been silenced in the past, of seeing how the myriad stories fit together and break apart, of using any privilege we may have been handed to undo privilege or expand its scope is each of our tasks. It’s how we make the world." It reminded me a lot of what this project and other oral histories are about. It's about reclaiming a silenced history, bringing it out into the open, celebrating and shouting to everyone about it. I guess I need to go read some more Rebecca Solnit.
Other news this week: I had the privilege of hearing the incredible Shirin Neshat speak at the MCA. She gave a short lecture, showed a recent video piece she made, and then did a QA.
A few choice quotations (a little bit of paraphrasing):
When talking about her choice of myriad mediums including photography, video, film, and even more recently opera, she explained: "I like being a beginner. I like the struggle. I like learning new languages...My strength is to constantly experiment." This was like music to my ears. I constantly like to learn new things myself and I feel she encapsulated how I feel about it. Not that everything is smooth going, there's a lot of bumps when learning something new, but the joy in discovery is a constant.
She also noted: "Poetry is subversive, yet a universal language for Iran." I like this idea of poetry, not just in the context of Iran. There's a lot that can be said in poetry that may not be easily said elsewhere. But there's a universality to poetry that we sometimes forget. We had the storytellers who were poets that were the public entertainment going back 1000s of years. Now, poetry sometimes is seen as very distant from the ordinary experience but that's not true. Music is a manifestation of poetry, words accompanied by melody and harmonies.
Anyway, just some early April musings.
Also, a reminder that my Kickstarter for the literary journal The Antelope Magazine is still running. It's a journal of oral history and mayhem! Help support it today!
That's all for now.
Happy 2017!
Happy 2017!
Just a check in to let you all know that I'm continuing to work on transcribing and editing of interviews for the book. It's a fun process to review all the amazing interviews I've done in the last year and a half. This year will be spent digging into all 70 interviews to create the final book. I'll continue to share some wonderful moments as we go along.
I also encourage all of you to consider making a resolution to see work by women. Women Arts has a challenge for you to see 52 movies by women or 52 plays by women. Find out more here: http://www.womenarts.org/2017/01/02/make-a-resolution-to-see-work-by-women-this-year/
That's all for now!
Book Releases!
Some of the oral history participants have work released or about to be released!
Anne Elizabeth Moore is having a limited edition run of her work AfterParty: A Novella described as "a sci-fi novel about disease and paradise", You can order it here: http://www.sonnenzimmer.com/#!/page/25 or find a copy at Quimby's in Wicker Park in Chicago.
You can now pre-order the entire In the Sounds and Seas by Marine Galloway that is due to come out on May 10, 2016. This wordless novel explores mythology and adventure. The first two volumes are incredible. I can't wait to read it all!
You can preorder it here: http://www.amazon.com/Sounds-Seas-Marnie-Galloway/dp/193554876X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1453132745&sr=1-1&keywords=marnie+galloway
Happy New Year!
It's been a few weeks since i've last posted. The great news is that I have completed 52 interviews by the year's end. I've been working on this project since July 2014 with the intention of only doing one interview a month. Clearly, that fell by the wayside.
I just want to reiterate how lucky I am for all the women who have taken the time to meet with me and share their thoughts and stories about their work and lives. People have been so generous with their time and sometimes their homes and studios. I already knew that Chicago was filled with amazing people but I'm so thankful to have it reaffirmed over and over again. Thank you to all the participants!
For those of you wondering about the timeline of the project, I am nearing the end of the interviews. I had originally thought that I would continue interviewing until June 30, 2016 but I don't want a 500 page book. Now, I envision stopping around 60 interviews. So yes, the research stage is near an end. Once I finish the interviews, I'll work on getting everything transcribed; I have some transcriptions completed. And then, the grand work of editing interviews for the book is next.
So stay tuned!
Also this news about Sundance directors is exciting. Not 50% but the numbers are moving in the right direction.