I did it! I finished my Masters in Creative Nonfiction. And now what? Things may be summed up here, in the last sentence of the Globe and Mail astrology column.
life is
an adventure
or it
is nothing
Puerto Rico
When I decided to go into the Masters in Fine Arts program at VCFA, I never dreamed of the world of writing possibilities that would open up for me, the psychic and spiritual conversations i would share, the unending vulnerability and potential that would open up inside of me. This January, I met sixteen of my fellow poets and writers in Puerto Rico, where we spent four days in sun-drenched San Juan. We workshopped each other’s words in the mornings, summoning higher selves, writing in each other’s margins and pointing out where we’ve kept a secret from the reader. We begged for more.
In the afternoons we heard vivid and poignant lectures by Puerto Rican writers,activists, self-published, well traveled teachers and candles in their small but important circles there, fighting for justice, for identity, for freedom.
Yolanda Arroyo Pizzaro, “Las Negras”
Hector Feliciano, Author of “The Lost Museum”
Then we moved to El Junque, the Puerto Rican rainforest, home to the famous coquí frogs and the perfect tree snails who slide under your doors and walls unsuspectingly towards lost a lost cracker. This is where I conducted my graduate lecture in travel writing and read from my new book, Unpacked. I then received my diploma (conferred by Tom Greene) , with hugs from the VCFA faculty and staff. We all drank mojitos and danced salsa and merengue after, with the amazing cooks in the kitchen coming out to teach us a few of their effervescent moves.
Introducing CARGO
So by now I have taken on another editorial project, a new online literary magazine dedicated to the travel & the inner journey, Cargo Literary. I suggest you follow us on FB at https://www.facebook.com/CargoLit or on Twitter@CargoLit. We are also still looking for submissions for our inaugural issue, due out later in February. Find the submission guidelines here:www.cargoliterary.com (our landing page but more to come).
I guess that’s it for the update. Hope everyone is well and happy in 2015.
love, mdc
