An update from the twenty-fourth Writing Workshop with Conner Bassett A summary of the workshop held on Saturday January 22, plus some of the output published below In his first class of the new year, Conner Bassett revitalized a scintillating lecture on the use of “and” in literature as well as visual art. Over the course of the workshop, we learned about the uniquely conjoining, relational, and aggregational nature of the swiss army knife contraction, noting specifically its different uses within the titles Crime and Punishment and Being and Nothingness. We also looked at Marcel Duchamp’s conversion of a urinal into a “fountain” in his famous museum exhibition, noticing how this subversion of meaning connoted the effect of the word “and.” Moving through the expression of “and” in works by Magritte, Warhol, the general nature of Islamic art, and in the effect of the comic panel, we read an excerpt from Cormac McCarthy’s All the Pretty Horses in order to see the “speed” of “and.” Finally, we considered “and’s” ability to transcend time and conjoin the present with the past in Dylan Thomas’ poem “And Death Shall Have No Dominion.” And, of course, at the end of the workshop we wrote! The Challenge: In 30 minutes, write one of three types of pieces: one, write a story or poem where you replace every period with the word “and”: two, write a story or poem that begins “in the middle,” beginning with the word “and”: or, three, start a new story or poem at the end of an old one, beginning with the word “and.” The Participants: Lina, Gwynne, Amelia, Emma, Ethan, Samantha, Penelope, Nova, Josh, Ellie, Zar, Alice, Quinn To watch more of the readings from this workshop, like Zar’s below, click here. Zar, 11
Conner Bassett
Saturday Newsletter: January 8, 2022
Magnolias at Midnight, Acrylic | Shaivi Moparthi, 11 (Sugarland, TX), published in Stone Soup January 2022 A note from Caleb Hello and happy second Saturday of 2022! In exactly two weeks’ time, we will be beginning our Winter 2022 session of Saturday classes. As was the case last session, our founder, William Rubel, will be teaching his writing workshop on Saturdays at 9:00 am Pacific, Conner Bassett will be teaching his writing workshop on Saturdays at 11:00 am Pacific, and Isidore Bethel will be teaching his introduction to short-form filmmaking class on Saturdays at 9:00 am Pacific. We are also excited to announce that Maya Mahony, an MFA student in fiction at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, will be taking over Book Club in place of Laura Moran, who will be spending more time on the Stone Soup Refugee Project! Book Club will continue to take place the last Saturday of each month at 9:00 am Pacific. Both Avery DiBella’s stunning poem “The Moon” and Shaivi Moparthi’s breathtaking acrylic Magnolias at Midnight concern themselves with the moon’s magic. Every line in Avery’s poem begins with “The moon”; at the center of Shaivi’s painting is a bright, shining moon, and, at first glance, it would seem both works are concerned with singing its praises. But, there is a sense of foreboding at play, lurking beneath the surface. Take the fourth line of Avery’s poem: “The moon/ is too/ Bright/ That in the/ Gorgeous/ Night/ I dream about/ The moon.” I’ve emboldened the “too” because it is this word choice that changes the entire meaning of the poem. In essence, the moon’s brightness is so dominant that its beauty takes precedence over the “gorgeous night” and the speaker’s dreams. Without that “too,” the poem’s final line, “The moon/ Feels like/ My pillow/ When I myself/ Am/ Sound asleep,” might only denote how the moon “soothes” the speaker. Instead, the line takes on an eerie significance; in all its dominance, the moon has become so ubiquitous, so inescapable that its presence is felt in the inherently unfelt: the pillow beneath a sound sleeper. In Shaivi’s painting, the magnolias are beautiful; it is their pink color that accents the image. In a literal sense, they take up more space than the moon. The painting is even titled Magnolias at Midnight. And yet, the moon—this bright, shining, floating orb—steals the viewer’s attention. After looking away from the painting, the moon is what remains, seamlessly imprinted like Avery’s pillow beneath a sound sleeper. Shaivi’s painting also reminds me of a famous quote from Shakespeare’s Timon of Athens, which would go on to inspire Nabokov’s Pale Fire: “The moon’s an arrant thief, And her pale fire she snatches from the sun.” So, thinking about how Avery’s poem and Shaivi’s painting indirectly take issue with the moon’s dominance, this weekend I’d like you to think about something in your life that is beautiful, marvelous, breathtaking, but for whatever reason rubs you the wrong way. Then, write what appears to be an ode singing the praises of this object, but, perhaps with the help of just a few words, in reality highlights your sense of unease. As always, if you like what you’ve written or created, we would love for you to share and submit it to us via Submittable! Till next time, Avery DiBella, 10 Salem, NH From Stone Soup January 2022 The Moon By Avery DiBella, 10 (Salem, NH) The moon Shines as bright As the stars In the glimmering So glimmering Night sky. The moon Soothes Me In my sleep. The moon Is soaking With new Dreams That can Be discovered… Continue reading “The Moon” here… Stone Soup is published by Children’s Art Foundation-Stone Soup Inc., a 501(c)(3) educational nonprofit organization registered in the United States of America, EIN: 23-7317498. Stone Soup’s advisors: Abby Austin, Mike Axelrod, Annabelle Baird, Jem Burch, Evelyn Chen, Juliet Fraser, Zoe Hall, Montanna Harling, Alicia & Joe Havilland, Lara Katz, Rebecca Kilroy, Christine Leishman, Julie Minnis, Jessica Opolko, Tara Prakash, Denise Prata, Logan Roberts, Emily Tarco, Rebecca Ramos Velasquez, Susan Wilky.
How Stories Work—Writing Workshop #22: Eating
An update from the twenty-second Writing Workshop with Conner Bassett A summary of the workshop held on Saturday November 20 In preparation and celebration of Thanksgiving, this week we focused on the time honored tradition of eating. We began by looking at a couple different paintings: The Feast of Dives by Master of James IV of Scotland and The Potato Eaters by Van Gogh. Both paintings exalted the poor and therefore the hungry, while the former in particular represented the act of eating as a sort of monstrous excess, which was also found in Mound of Butter by Antoine Vollon, Vertumnus by Giuseppe Arcimboldo, and Hotdog in #NYC by Valery Jung. By way of literary examples, we looked at the poem “Eating Together” by Li-Young Lee and “Eating Poetry” by Mark Strand. The former we found to display eating as communal and ritualistic, whereas the latter associated eating with animalistic and demonic traits. The Challenge: Write a story/poem in which people are eating. Think about what food symbolizes in your story/poem. The Participants: Penelope, Nova, Lina, Alice B, Audrey, Emma, Shilla, Josh, Ethan, Svitra
