What ingredients are necessary to write? Where does a story begin and end? Why is the blank page both endlessly exciting and daunting? For renowned poet, memoirist, and educator Maggie Smith, these questions are the center of her life and work. And in her latest book, Dear Writer, she offers something more than straightforward answers.
Across ten principles, readers are greeted with a wealth of inspiration that invites artists of all genres to tap into their creative practice. Maggie extolls the beauty of attention, the power of vulnerability, but beyond the page, she also contends with the more nuanced “ingredients”—intuition, luck, retreat. Maggie spoke about all of these ideas and shared more about her own literary evolution, how slow storytelling haunts and heals us, and the questions she has about—and for—writing. This episode also opens with a story from Domenica Ruta.
Loved the witchy, slow-down ritual Domenica Ruta shared!