Another week passes here at the GWC, but honestly I think I’ll be talking about the last two weeks in this post, since I sort-of forgot to talk about anything but the “8 Plays for the Price of One” event in my last post.
To start with, we were visited by the wonderful writer Helen Epstein, last Wednesday, and she read from her unfinished memoir on childhood trauma, young love, and looking back on it in your middle ages. Ms. Epstein was a phenomenal reader with a tremendous stage presence, but what truly made her little reading memorable was the interplay with the audience, the writing, and the fact that this was the first time Ms. Epstein had read an excerpt from her memoir in public.
The writing in the piece was so incredibly tight and well-crafted that, as an aspiring writer, I had to sit back in awe at Ms. Epstein’s skill and perseverance. She claims that she has been working on the memoir for 12 years now, and that shows in just how perfectly crafted her prose were. Ms. Epstein followed her reading from the memoir by having a long discussion with the audience over what worked in the piece, what held our interest, and where there might be room for improvement.
Such events as this always reaffirm in my mind why the GWC is such an incredible place for creative exploration and discussion. I honestly can think of no other place where I, as a 21 year old nobody could discuss my thoughts on an as-of-yet unpublished piece of writing by a critically acclaimed writer who began her career writing for the New York Times, let alone have that writer appear to seriously listen to my thoughts and comments. Needless to say, the event was just great.
At the end of last week I also got a chance to work on my landscaping skills as Henry and I planted two rose bushes and one rose tree in the backyard of the GWC. Between plantings we realized we were out of compost and potting soil, and that there was an old leaky refrigerator in the way, so I dutifully loaded the fridge into the back of my Volvo (for those wondering, Volvo wagons can fit a decent size fridge if you put the back seat down…) and carried it off to Hiltz Waste Disposal in West Gloucester, where I had a great conversation with two men unloading T.V.’s from a truck about whether I desired the fully functioning car T.V. that they were throwing away (for those wondering, I graciously declined their offer). After that I got myself slightly lost on the back roads of West Gloucester, but eventually found my way to the Building Center where I bought some potting soil before returning to the GWC, where Henry and I completed planting the bushes.
To recap this week, I would have to say it was fairly mellow since it was the lull between the events of late September and Anne Waldman’s (PUT A LINK) arrival next week. On Monday we finally found a replacement fridge for the GWC thanks to the terrific donation by the terrific Mac Bell, and so Henry, Annie, a dolly, and I traveled over to the docks off Rogers Street to pick it up and carry it down a large flight of stairs. The fridge works great and is infinitesimally larger than the one that we had and makes storing food for events a lot easier.
On Tuesday we met with several people and ironed out plans for various events, including the upcoming Playwriting workshop, which still has one space open. Yesterday Henry and I met with Maureen Aylward to hammer out details on a new program that will be starting next January. The program will be loosely based off of the national Moth readings where a theme is given for the night and various people come and perform personal stories that they have memorized/practiced. We’re planning on calling the event “Fish-tales” in honor of the city of Fishes, and are thinking of having fishing stories be our first theme, as Gloucester is a city rich with everything fish. The event sounds like it will be great, and I can’t wait to be a part of it.
Yesterday, Henry and I also attended Endicott College’s (my school’s) Internship Forum and had a great discussion with other interns and businesses about internship programs, fundraising, and the world of non-profit arts programs.
Overall, the last two weeks have been a nice lull before the craziness that will be 3rd Annual Charles Olson Lecture with Anne Waldman, but I’m really looking forward to the chaos too!
Thank you again, City of Gloucester, for this tremendous opportunity.
Cheers,
Maxwell