Like Christmas in September, the MacArthur Foundation awarded half-million Genius Awards to 25 scientists, humanitarians, and, yes, artists. Diverse crowd this year. I'm familiar with the work of several, including:
--Sally Temple, neuroscientist
--Chimamandu Ngozi Adichie, Nigerian author (Half of a Yellow Sun)
--Diane E. Meier, geriatrician
--Peter J. Pronovost, critical care doc working in hospital medical error control
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The irony does not escape me: a line of my research, looking at treatment patterns and outcomes for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, is funded by the same company that pays the medical bills for my parents' cigarette-induced cancer and emphysema
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Yesterday was the first day of autumn. The morning opened with a cacophony of rogue crickets outside my writing window, a lone deer munching on the withered remains of azalea leaves and iris. The cold approaches, time to prepare for the hunkering down, the inner withdrawal...
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Look for October's issue of THE SUN on your newstands. A piece of mine is in the Readers Write column, an essay on waiting to miscarry my son. My first print publication in a literary journal...
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THE WRITING... It goes. Officially past the half-way mark of revising BRIGHTER THAN BRIGHT. As for PURE, much thought and notes. I have a stucture emerging, several voices... this is the fun part, the imagining, the flexibility before the written words are committed. The most important part of the process, perhaps. Fascinated by my ability to carry 2 projects in my head at the same time.
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THE READING... Reading for structure and voice, to fuel PURE... Just finished A WIDOW FOR ONE YEAR by John Irving. It has been years since I read him; I forgot what a marvelous story-teller he is. Wonderful book, layers upon layers of stories told as books. A writer's novel. In deep now with THREE JUNES by Julia Glass, who taught a seminar at THE MUSE AND THE MARKETPLACE. Tricky - she interweaves past and present voice seamlessly to change voice and time. Brilliant.
Peace, Linda
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Hi LInda, am having to do some catching up here,so am leaving one comment to cover all.
ReplyDeleteFound your comments on why you selected to go into the area you did most interesting, it is strange how we pick the routes we follow in life.
Sorry to hear that your Dad is having medical problems and will keep you very much in my thoughts through this trying time. Writing can be a great release from our personal worries and I find when I am dealing with this sort of thing writing is a wonderful release for that emotional roller coast ride one goes through.
Take care, Gillian
"THE WRITING... It goes." Isn't that the eternal truth. Natalie Goldberg said it best. "I write because there are stories that people have forgotten to tell, because I am a woman trying to stand up in my life. I write because to form a word with your lips and tongue or think a thing and then dare to write it down so you can never take it back is the most powerful thing I know. I am trying to come alive, to find the distances in my own recesses and bring them forward and give them color and form." I hope you find space in the pain of family uncertainties to write out the words inbetween
ReplyDeleteWe must share the same family of crickets, for they've been serving as my alarm clock for the past few days.
ReplyDeleteDon't you love the days when looking out the window shows you a bright, sunny day, but stepping out the door reveals the nip and briskness in the air? I do. My favorite time of year. Let's have cocoa!
Congrats on your publication, Linda. I'm proud of you.
ReplyDeleteG, thanks for keeping me and my family in your thoughts. I believe in the power of positive thinking to change outcomes...
ReplyDeleteSarah, great quote for Natalie G. Write the words in between. Thank you...
Hope, Autumn also is my favorite time of year, in part because of it's bittersweetness. There is something wondrous about picking the last of summer fruit while the maples shed their first leaves of crimson. Cocoa indeed - anytime! Peace, Linda
Stephen, you commented in the midst of mine - Thank you! I'm proud of US - we've both had recent successes. keep on keeping on... Peace, Linda
ReplyDeletethe writing sounds like it's going wonderfully. keep going, linda! and happy weekend!
ReplyDelete