Shaping Our Path Through This Land
Sculpting us as we return to the sea
Boozhoo, indinawemaaganidog! Aaniin! That is to say hello, all of my relatives! Welcome to another edition of An Irritable Métis. I’m embarrassed to see how late I am getting this out, a newsletter comprised mainly of announcements and the like, because I should have done so days ago. But here we are, better late than never. I hope something catches your eye and your interest.
Free Live Zoom Reading : Poetry as Travelogue
I am going to be joined live via zoom by my good friend Michael Garrigan this coming Wednesday night, May the 17th, at 6:30pm MDT. The event is FREE and I hope a pile of you will show up to join us! You can hit the link for the event by clicking HERE. Even better, you may respond to this newsletter via email, or CONTACT ME directly, and I will happily send you an invite to the event a couple hours prior as a reminder. Per usual in these parts, this is a slapdash, low-tech rallying call to get people to come out for something cool. And it will be cool.
Michael is a wonderful poet and this, River, Amen, his second book, is lovely. It’s only recently released and he asked if I’d like to do some kind of reading with him. This is it! We’ll chat, we’ll read, maybe we’ll take some questions. Expect maybe 60-90 minutes of edge-of-your-seat action, max. What Michael and I have in common is a deep love of rivers and wild places and I think it will show during our time together. There really isn’t much else to say. You know what I’m about, but you can find out more about Michael via his website. There are even links to more of his stuff there. This should be a good one, folks. I’ve never hosted something like this personally before, though I’ve been thinking about it for a while now. If it works, maybe we will do more things like this!
Special thanks to Fact & Fiction Bookstore and the Freeflow Institute for their involvement in making this kind of thing happen: like bringing writers like Michael and I together in the first place, and selling our books for us!
Yellowstone Workshop is Happening!
My friends, the in person Poetry as Spiritual Practice workshop at Lamar Buffalo Ranch in Yellowstone National Park that I was certain would be cancelled is not being cancelled! It will still go down May 22 – 25, which should be a gorgeous time in the area. It might be spring! It might be teasing summer! It could even still be the height of winter! Odds are, we’ll experience all three seasons that week!
I know this is last minute but all the details, including opportunities to register, may be found HERE. It’s not too late to jump on board if you can make it happen. Besides workshopping, there will be ample time for solitary reflection (and I do mean AMPLE TIME), group outings out into the Lamar Valley, etc. What an opportunity for all of us! Buffalo! Moose! Otters! American Dippers! Coyotes! Maybe even wolves … and possibly bears!
Build and Monetize Your Own Newsletter with The Writers’ Co-op
Wudan Yan is the executive producer of The Writers' Co-op, a business podcast for freelance creatives. She is also a fantastic journalist that I have been a fan of for years. In particular, you might check out her essay, “Late Fee,” about one of the teeth-gnashing realities of life as a freelancer. Anyway, she approached me about being a guest on the show to talk about newsletters, and of course I said yes. Here are the details:
When freelance rates have gone stagnant, and some publishers are closing altogether, stability as a freelance journalist may feel more precarious than ever.
Many are creating their own lifeboats by producing – and monetizing! – newsletters and building their own audiences. But for those of us who are newsletter-curious, how exactly do you get started? How do you take things that you’re interested in, and build a following?
In this one-hour webinar, The Writers’ Co-op will be joined by two freelance journalists, Chris La Tray and Melinda Wenner Moyer, who will share their wisdom in producing their newsletters. They’ve both built their newsletter audience (without the benefit of a staff job!) and monetized them. They will dig into the nitty gritty of how to find their target audience, and the ins and outs of treating their newsletter as a business.
Registration and other details may be found HERE.
The event is happening online on June 8th, 2:30pm – 3:30pm MDT. It’s $35.00 to attend.
And Finally….
I think that’s about all for now. In closing, here is one of Garrigan’s poems, this one from his time as a resident poet in the magnificent Bob Marshall Wilderness. This one is available as a broadside too, and it’s gorgeous.
Hooray, so glad the Yellowstone workshop is happening! Would love to plan ahead to join it next year. And, I'm intrigued by the poetry as travelogue frame. Some of the poems that felt most urgent to pull from my depths in the past few years center on reckining with the amazing and daunting emotions evoked during travel. Hope to make it on Wednesday!
"...grateful for concrete never poured..."