being a woman

weeping woman

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  Weeping Woman (Dora Maar) by Grace Nichols   14. Picasso, I want my face back the unbroken photography of it   once, I lived to be stroked by the fingers of your brushes   Now I see I was more an accomplice to my own uprooting   Watching the pundits gaze open-mouthed at your … Read more

a marked grave

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writer Mavis Gallant rests in a marked grave in Montparnasse Cemetery in Paris. in 2015 it was difficult to locate without knowledge that she resides, temporarily, in her friend’s family crypt, because Mavis died almost penniless. when faced with fragile, failing health and dwindling finances, she stated, unequivocally, “i have chosen to be a writer, … Read more

platform

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platform a landing alongside railroad tracks.  you’re waiting. coal trains flashing past. most of the time you can’t speak on a train platform. there’s too much noise. and the anxiety about the ticket. where is it? should i move it to another pocket? check, double check. tiresome. this year i’ve watched writers who are so … Read more

the sergeant’s daughter

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here’s a piece of creative non-fiction i wrote about (not) belonging. sometimes i wonder if i don’t belong because i’m a woman but that’s a dark thought on this beautiful sunny day. i think it’s the tired talking. here’s the link: http://www.cbc.ca/books/canadawrites/2014/09/stories-of-belonging-writing-challenge.html#mid=20589651&offset=41&page=3&s=hits%20DESC,%20id%20ASC

on being a (wo)man

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dear imaginary readers of the blog, it’s been a misogynistic couple of weeks. you know, Ursula Le Guin’s essay on being a failed man is thought provoking.  as an older woman, she was born just as women were considered persons. she tried to live as a man and now she’s old, and considering living as an old … Read more

a singular woman

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Mavis Gallant has died at age 91 in Paris. a short story writer who was born in Canada, she lived her adult life in Paris. she wrote about expats living in Europe and themes of alienation/loneliness emerged.  the stories of people living in-between cultures and their often shabby personal lives. i’ve read some of her … Read more

dropsy

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not long before my mom died, i took her to a doctor’s appointment in a nearby town.  the car trip was relatively short but wiped her out.  getting into and out of the car was difficult, as she had grown weak from rapid weight loss.  by the time she was finished with blood tests at … Read more

and this is what writing is all about

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this weekend, i snuck away to Fernie on my own, to write. and it was great. there’s nothing like writing yourself around, into, and through a story. and i had one of those experiences, you know the ones, where you write something and it kinda blows your mind. it’s only a paragraph and i won’t … Read more