Artist Initiative
ACHF Arts Access
As I write, I will share some insights on my blog. I'll also talk about motherhood and writing at library and other community events. I will estimate the audiences at the events at which I speak, and engage in one-on-one talks with audience members about my work. I'll also check the statistics on my blog. 2: I will hone my essay skills and complete my book while sharing progress and critiques with other local writers. I plan to participate in a workshop-style writer's group, exchanging ideas with other artists and improving my work. My progress toward publication will determine the interest in and audience for my book.
I attempted to arrange to discuss my writing at a library event and several community events, but unfortunately each of the plans fell through. I proposed a panel of people who write about motherhood for the Hennepin County Libraries, but the system turned out not to have an opening in its events calendar within the remainder of the grant year. I arranged to speak to the East Metro chapter of the national organization Mothers and More, but the event organizer in that group, after extending an invitation to me to speak, did not reply to further emails. I arranged to speak to a class taught by Minnesota poet Kathryn Kysar of Anoka-Ramsey Community College, but were not able to schedule it within the grant period. I did publish an essay from my book in the Minneapolis Star Tribune on November 25, in both the travel section and the special section The Good Life. When the book is published I will arrange as many readings and other events as possible. 2: I spent a year working to produce personal essays in an unusual form, one that combines firsthand experiences written in literary prose with larger sociological and cultural observations written in a more explanatory style. It was very difficult, but I made progress and improved my technique.