Lift Your Feet
things that kept me busy in February
I know that I’ve been busting my butt transitioning back to full-time writer when I show up in political spaces and former colleagues and campaigners say things like, ‘Whoa, what have YOU been up to?’ as if I’m back from the dead.
In truth, I am very busy! Mostly with writing. Collage has been a bit slower this month, though I’ve been working with my Dad (Gary Smith) to figure out how to make prints. We (meaning he, with me watching) photographed and printed Lift Your Feet and Bloom of Youth. I’m really pleased with the colour match and detail, which shouldn’t surprise me since Dad is an excellent photographer. If you are interested in an 8 x 10 of either image, let me know.
I totally slept on #Februllage, the popular annual collage challenge on Instagram, so that I could take full advantage of a two-week stint in the Banff Centre for the Arts Late Winter Virtual Residency. It was a wonderful opportunity to meet writers from across the country (some based in the US and France too), work with a mentor on some poems, and learn more about craft. I would have loved to participate in an in-person program, but I blew my travel budget (and then some) last summer. If you can’t or don’t want to travel, I highly recommend the virtual program.
While in the residency, I received a response to my latest Arts NS grant application. Hallelujah, I’ve received funding! This is my biggest grant to date; it will fund 7.5 months of writing the book Dream Job. ICYMI, I wrote about my frustration with grant writing here. It was paywalled because I felt unsure about sharing my rejection streak with my whole mailing list. I’ve removed the paywall in the hopes that someone will find something helpful in the steps I took to manage my anxiety.
Speaking of dreams, I also did a school visit this week through the Writers in The Schools program. We talked about how to put dreams into poems and made a Random Dream Generator so that they could practice making dream poems. There is still WITS funding available, so if you’d like me to visit your school too, apply here.
And lastly, I have a poem out this month with Opaat Press! This is my first publication in ages. I love the format of a single poem pamphlet, which you can order and receive by mail. What a treat! Check out all the pamphlets here.
So I guess, that’s the answer to the question, ‘What have YOU been up to?!’ Lots, man, lots.
xoxo
Alison