writer, educator
This year I decided to submit work to HOWL, a literary publication of UNM Taos. I was inspired by their theme, Change, and had a couple of pieces that I thought might work. They accepted two of my flash fiction pieces, both of which deal with catharsis, or life transitions. As Gandhi said, “Be the change you wish to be in the world.” This Thursday is their Book Launch party and I am excited to be a part of it and reading my work.
Tags: Book Launch Party, fiction, HOWL, johanna debiase, reading, taos, UNM
“Isn’t art, ultimately, about decoration?”
I knew right away I had said the wrong thing. The artists wagged their heads and mumbled their dissent.
“We make art for ourselves, not others. It has to mean something.”
As a writer, I write for myself, but I was taught to always have a reader in mind. The goal is not to get a whole bunch of people to like my work but just one person, one type of person that will dig what I’m doing. That imagined reader guides my writing, so that it doesn’t become an exercise in narcissism. I remember that my goal is also to entertain. I’m not a paperback writer. I have something to say. But I want to say it with well-crafted style in a way that will stir feelings and ideas in someone other than myself.
In the end, I think the artists and I agree but have a different language for the same goal. Art and writing are subjective. We want to create something that evokes. And we hope someone will pay us to do it.
Tags: artists, johanna debiase, residency, vermont studio center, writer, writing
At the Vermont Studio Center, there are writers and artists. Artists are categorized as either painters of sculptors. When I meet an artist that prefers not to be defined, I assume they are a sculptor. This is what I have discovered from my short time here — people who “make stuff” and “put things together.” I love the creative ambiguity of it, the mystery of composition. They are artists who allow themselves to get swept away in their creative currents, wherever that may lead. In a way, I can relate. I used to play around in all genres and I still do. I love to write poetry and non-fiction, but with time, I came to realize that focus is my greatest tool. I appreciate the artists who adamantly define themselves. As a writer, words suit me. I’m happy to put a title on something. I write fiction. It is my focus, a concrete name given to a concrete purpose. For me, focus is necessary when you have something at stake.
Some can go with the creative flow and wistfully indulge in play, some can clearly understand their own focus and art without feeling the need to put it into words and then there are the rest of us — writers, painters and sculptors.
Tags: artists, fiction, johanna debiase, prose, residency, vermont studio center, writer
It’s not writer’s block, it’s writer’s fatigue — the inability to think about words any longer, the desire to be outside where it is hot and muggy and teeming with northeastern ticks. I can’t even bear the computer screen another moment, hot in my lap, glaring at me to absorb more, learn more, produce more. I should be glad that I over-worked myself to a state of waste, but instead, I chasten myself for being out of shape. A fitter writer would work longer, harder and not wish for rain to entrap her indoors. She would need only her strong will power to sustain her. But I am weak. I make excuses. I am in transition. Having been writing for only two hours a day for the last four years (since the birth of my daughter), how can I possibly expect to work for four hours straight, plus the two hours before lunch? Must I return after dinner? It’s time to give myself permission to frolic, or just take a walk. Five hours today, maybe I’ll make it six tomorrow.
Tags: johanna debiase, residency, vermont, writing
Open the floor to ceiling window and I am just inside of outside but slightly turned around. Downstream, a river’s uncertain course. So kind to place me here, to gift me this one sunny day perched on a window sill, framed by the corner chair. The all-important cushion. Unevolved pelvis, weighted feet. White rock pile, blue trash pile. Everything still unnamed. The moment before it becomes real.
Tags: johanna debiase, maverick, residency, studio, vermont, writing
In the Rockies, we mock the hills that pass for mountains in the east. But airplane descending over the sprawling farmlands of Vermont, I couldn’t help being enchanted by the Green Mountains, currently white tipped with snow. Even as our shuttle bus neared Johnson, it felt as if the “mountains” were “towering” above. The majestic Sangre de Cristos that I know and love are over 13,000′ tall, while these eastern rock formations are just above 4,000′. Yet, the hike from the base to the peak of these two sets ends up being about the same. My mountains in New Mexico begin at just under 9,000′, while these mountains begin at nearly sea level. I don’t want to belittle the difference altitude makes; a New Englander would be huffing and puffing up the alpine Rockies with diminished oxygen while I sprinted these boreal forests. Still, high altitude in the sunny southwest might be comparable to the northern climate of Vermont. And, I can’t forget, their small stature is due to their elder status. So, I will still continue to mock these eastern “mountains” with dry sarcastic wit, but with a new respect for them and their sister river valleys.
Tags: Green, johanna debiase, mountains, residency, Rocky, vermont studio center, writing
When I was pregnant with my daughter back in 2007, I started a series of poems about my experiences. After she was born, I edited them and turned it into a chapbook, all while a newborn suckled on my breast. Since then, my daughter has continued to fuel my writing habit and I write more now than every before. Granted, I have less time to write, but that is what drives me to be more disciplined. Recently, I decided to sell my chapbook on Etsy. Deeply involved in my novel, I am not writing poems at the moment. But, I thought that perhaps there were some people out there that might be interested in a book of poems about pregnancy. I need to warn you though. If you are looking for happy sunshine poems about how great it is to give birth and all that jazz, this might not be the book for you. This book is about the nitty gritty, as well as, the beauty. That’s what it’s all about after all. So, if you want a copy, I am asking a measly $5.20. If you can’t spare a dime, let me know, I’ll send you a copy for free.
Tags: chapbook, Etsy, johanna debiase, poems, Poetry, pregnancy, writer, writing
This photo of a funny little clay sculpture and its corresponding comic title, Electric ManDragon, inspired some interesting writing on this month’s Petroglyphs site.
This month’s Postcard Fiction Collaborative demonstrated how such a mundane image can end up being so inspiring. It shows how even the smallest details can spur creativity. In this case, the reflection of light in utensils.
Tags: fiction, johanna debiase, prose, writer, writing
SOMOS or Society Of the Muse Of the Southwest, Taos, New Mexico’s own non-profit literary society/supporter, started back in 1983. Other than being a valuable resource for writers and a great little used bookstore, they put on several annual literary events. These include the winter and summer writers’ series that bring both local and national writers to our little town to do readings, and a Storytelling Festival every October.
I have the good fortune of currently being part of their annual Youth Mentorship Program and being paired up with a 9th grader in my little village of Peñasco. I love to teach writing and share my passion for writing with young people so this is a perfect opportunity for me.
Here is what the SOMOS site says about it: Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: johanna debiase, mentorship, SOMOS, writer, writing, youth
I know, this is so 2009, but I have just recently become obsessed with Google Reader. Maybe because I live out in the boonies, but I always seem to discover these things late in the game. (Please, do not let this reflect negatively in any way on my husband, Eric Mack, who is a technology journalist/blogger. He really does try to clue me in.) I thought it would be fun to share the list of sites I am currently subscribing to. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: blogs, books, johanna debiase, reader, reading, writing