Greetings friends and friends of The Douglass Street Lab. I just made it safely past the fluke stage and I'm now happy to report I'm officially having a great semester. One superstition I have--in addition never touching the leaves of a plant when I'm angry lest they all fall out--is not saying anything in the first six weeks about how good of a semester I'm having.
But now that we've passed the first trimester of the semester, I get to say all of my work--at SFSU, at Performing Arts Workshop, and at The Douglass Street Lab--has me so inspired and invigorated I've hardly noticed how much time traveling to or from one of these places on the motorcycle in the pouring down rain.
In the lastest session of The Lab, we've found inspiration from Patti Smith, Cynthia Hopkins, Lucinda Williams, Mark Doty, Chimamanda Adichie, and Jamaica Kincaid, just to name a few. The participants in this cycle show up, open up, write, read, and respond. Then they revise and post snippets for their findings for their peers to read. It's been one of the most active cycles in a long time, and several of the participants will be reading at our open-house/reading/celebration coming up on March 19th. Here are all the details. (If you're not on Facebook and don't want to be, just email me and I'll send you an invite) If you've been thinking of doing The Lab and aren't sure if it's for you, this is a great (and free) opportunity to come check out both the space what people have written.
Speaking of the space, I know I wrote that The Lab's host Mark and his sweetie were moving in and so The Lab would be moving out. It was a lie! Mark's sweetie is nonplussed by our Tuesday night meetings and Mark, who is a great writer and a student of The Lab, likes the commute. So while nothing is forever, we'll be staying on Douglass Street for the next cycle, Spring into Action, which starts on March 29th, and still has a few seats available.
There are updates, too, on my own work/manuscript/process as well as some reflections on the importance of an aspiring novelist like me starting a new project while the finished one makes its way around the various channels that might some day result in publication.
But alas, Fourteen Hills is meeting tonight for their final decisions, and I need to avail myself to them as their faculty advisor.
So more soon. Probably after I'm done getting all the stuff ready for the tax dude.
Wishing you all the best for a happy Spring.
Oh! And if you're a former student and you have some news to share, please do! I'd love a chance to brag about you on The Lab's Facebook page.