Hi, everyone!
I spent this weekend in LA (the city in the USA I have the biggest crush on) at AWP. For those of you who don’t know, AWP is a conference where many tens of thousands of writers and publishers convene to talk about books, attend panels and lectures, read in packed sweaty bars around town, gossip, and hangout. Each year it’s held in a different city. I hardly ever go, but since this one was in LA, it felt fated.
The definite highlight of my week was seeing my editor speak and then getting to have lunch with her the next day. Again, more on this soon! But it was also very rad (and exhausting!) to see so, so, so many friends and loved ones and to meet new friends and loved ones 🌴
Here’s an actual photo of me reading at Skylight Books for the launch of Kristen Arnett’s STOP ME IF YOU’VE HEARD THIS ONE 📖
I read at Skylight with Isle McElroy (genius among us), Morgan Parker (one of my favorite humans ever), Alissa Nutting (ummm what? truly a dream to be in her presence), and of course the ever-hilarious and iconic Kristen Arnett.
Other highlights were booping around the book fair with my buddy Tomas and Jospeh (one day) and Sam (the next). I had a very gay lunch with Chen. And deep heart to hearts with Morgan over life (sigh) and futures dreams (sigh again). I also bought a very cute new edition of my pal Kayla’s novelette HELEN HOUSE. Running into Christoph from Clash, another dreamy moment. Melissa bought me a chamomile tea and gave me tips on the best sugar free gummy snacks. Greg threw an incredible reading. Denne made me tear up reading from her new novel WHEN THE HARVEST COMES. I saw my agent Monika and we got to chatty chat.
I got the new (first) issue of Elastic, and I am a fanboy. The art direction is incredible. The words inside, just as swoon-worthy. I also bought a very cool hat from N+1 that looks like the Monster energy drink logo. A new fave. They’re calling it their UNLEASH THE NICHE hat. Cute.
That’s my AWP wrap up. I’m a truly next level terrified flyer but somehow I made it safely back to the ground once again without dying in the air. Life is incredible like that.
I would be remiss to not leave you with this musing on connection/disconnection.
I’ll be going back to Sitka Center for Art and Ecology next week to finish up my artist residency. Hanging in nature on the Cascade Head has caused me to reflect on what it means to be “connected.” I use the phrase often when referring to different things/ways of being. I can be connected, for instance, to the internet. To technology. To the machines. (See below, where I am looking at my computer nonstop hunched over like a question mark). “I’m plugged in.” I might say. That seems more apt. But interestedly, tech has co-opted the language of connection. We do of course connect to devices, to electrical sockets, to wifi waves. But mostly when I think of connection, I think of the soul. I think of connecting to someone. Or to a physical place, like a place in nature.
“I FEEL SO CONNECTED!” I say when I walk the Salmon River near the Pacific Ocean. Or when I wander the Neskowin Ghost Forest. The wind rips at my face. The salt cleanses my senses. The sand squishes under my feet. The Earth is right here. I am in nature. I am connected! It makes me sad to be disconnected from this part of my self (the self that squishes sand in bare feet) and more connected to technology. When I’m connected to technology, I’m often so faraway from pieces of me I really love.
These thoughts are so half-baked. But I guess I’m baking them here with you. What do you think of this dis/connection? When and where do you feel most connected? What does connecting mean to you? What does it mean when the big forces of power take over the language of love and art and creativity use it for their own gain?
I will send you off with the Ozzy Addendum
Simply because he’s so cute and still (forever) my muse.
Alright! That’s it my friends. Hope you enjoyed this little dispatch. Were you at AWP? Drop some of your favorite moments in the comments :) Or your musings on dis/connection. All is welcome (as long as it’s kind or well-intentioned).
Onward,
Genevieve ✏️