You know that art project/novel/score/one-man-show you’ve been working on for years, but can’t seem to finish?  Well, there’s an answer to your problem, and it’s called an artist residency.

What’s an artist residency? It’s a place (think the famed Yaddo and MacDowell out east) where artists and writers go to shut out the rest of the world and zone in completely on their creative projects.  I recently had the extreme pleasure of doing an artist residency at the Ragdale Foundation, an artist residency program in Lake Forest, Illinois, and, I’m thrilled to say, finished three previously languishing stories for my short story collection.

Ragdale’s been around since 1976. It was founded by poet Alice Judson Hayes, the granddaughter of Arts and Crafts architect Howard Van Doren Shaw who built the beautiful, spacious place in 1897 as a summer home for his family. Thirty miles north of Chicago, it “overlooks 50 acres of prairie, now hosts over 200 emerging and established artists of all disciplines each year.” It has 8 writers studios (decked out with porches, libraries, copious writing desks) , two art studios (good light, spacious), and one composer studio complete with piano and minimal equipment.

Some famous alumni are Audrey Niffenegger, Wendy McClure, Jaqueline Michard, Sara Paretsky, Alice Sebold, Curtis White and Sandi Wisenberg.  Carl Sandburg and Vachel Lindsay were friends of the Shaws and are said to have attended plays there.

The nitty gritty: Not everyone gets in.  You have to fill out an application, write an artist statement and get a few people to recommend you for the program. Once you’re in, it costs $25/day (a meager fee considering that you’re provided with all meals plus housekeeping). Financial aid and fellowships are also available. Artist residencies include your own studio, access to a full kitchen stocked with breakfast and lunch stuffs, and full (delicious) chef-cooked dinner  every night with the other 11 residents. What’s funny is that although you go there ostensibly to be alone and completely in your thoughts, one of the best parts of the residency for many ends up being those lively dinners with 11 other people who’ve been creatively engaged all day, just like you.

After dinner, you can sneak away back to your studio with no guilt, or linger to discuss art and ideas with other residents.  (Among the spectacular residents in my session were a children’s book author writing a kiddie book on the life of the Buddha, a blind poet/performer who was there with his amazing seeing-eye dog, and Alice Hayes’ granddaughter Ramona, who wrote this wonderful story based on her grandmother and who I’m pretty sure I know from another life.)

Initially, having all that free time can send people into freak-out mode, so resident adviser Regin Ingloria wisely warned us that we might just sleep or spaz for a day or two (I did both) but would soon acclimate and start working. He was right: we all made more progress than we even thought possible-a groovy reminder that the human brain is innately creative, but that sometimes we need time and space away from practical concerns to get in that flow. (Incidentally, that’s Ragdale’s motto and the phrase on their t-shirts: “Time and Space”).

Ragdale is more than just a residency program; increasingly, their staffers Leslie Brown, Susan Page Tillett, and Regin Ingloria are holding public events and readings to step up Ragdale’s community involvement. (On May 10, Scott Turow will be doing an event for them; email l.brown@ragdale.org to register). So, I urge you: Get involved! Go to a Ragdale event! Get on their mailing list! But most of all: Apply! That novel’s not going to write itself. Photos from my stay are below, but if that doesn’t compel you to get moving on that novel/art project, this link might.

Stewie on novel writing

There can be different outcomes when fiction writers and novelists take on the wilderness of nonfiction. They sometimes randomly wander until something strikes their fancy.  They may get involved with the natives and neglect their mission. But, hey, they just might navigate those uncharted territories like Lewis and Clark. The last is true for Jonathan Safran Foer. His first nonfiction book, Eating Animals, has arrived on our planet, and he made a stop in our fair city last night to talk about it.

Foer plans on this being his only work of nonfiction;  he feels strongly about the environmental effects of the animal industry and called the topic of vegetarianism “durable,” as he’s been flopping back and forth, vegetarian to omnivore, since the age of 9.

He read two small sections based on his grandmother,  presented as a food-centric Jew, a trait resulting from nearly starving during World War II. Her determination to keep kosher even through those times inspires him to keep sight of his ideal. When he asked her how she could refuse food that could save her life, how it could matter at a time like that, she replied, “If nothing matters, there’s nothing to save.”

Foer has a true flair for hyperbole, but he presented a number of facts regarding factory farming and its effects on the environment that attendees could only wish were exaggerated. His extensive research and subsequent deep knowledge of the modern “farming” world gave him a confidence and made him unblinking when faced with potentially moral gray zones. When the reading turned to conversation, Foer was matter-of-fact and unabashed when a farmer’s daughter made a case for family farms, her own passed down many generations. His reply, “I just don’t think tradition is all that compelling.”

Curtis White, author of the much-lauded The Middle Mind: Why Americans Don’t Think for Themselves, will discuss his newest book tonight at 7 p.m. at the Stop Smiling Storefront (1371 N Milwaukee Ave., Chicago).

In his new book, The Barbaric Heart: Faith, Money and the Crisis of Nature, White addresses the plight of the natural world, and argues that the same forms of crony capitalism and managerial technocracy that created the environmental crisis will not help resolve it. With trademark wit, he contends that the solution might come from such unexpected sectors as the arts, religion and the realm of the moral imagination.

White will read from the book and take questions from the audience. STOP SMILING Editor JC Gabel will moderate. Copies of The Barbaric Heart will be on sale at a discounted price of $10.

The Barbaric Heart Book Launch
Thursday, Sept. 17, 7 p.m.
The STOP SMILING Storefront
1371 N Milwaukee Ave.
Chicago, IL 60622

Email rsvp@stopsmilingonline.com to attend.

This April 30 event was billed as a “What’s New & What’s Next” discussion at Maxim’s in the Gold Coast. Presented by the new Department of Literary Arts & Events (within the Department of Cultural Affairs), it featured speakers Garrett Kiely (University of Chicago Press), Rick Kogan (Chicago Tribune), and Donna Seaman (Booklist & Chicago Public Radio).  Pics aren’t superb–I was trying not to interrupt the lecture with a blinding flash!–but this gives you a good idea about the crowd. For more,  check out our earlier post in re: the WBEZ interview with Danielle Chapman, the new Director of Publishing Industry Programs at the Department of Literary Arts and Events.

Wednesday night, the anthology The Wind Shifts: New Latino Poetry presented the Chicago reading of its ongoing national tour, in collaboration with the Guild Complex, Letras Latinas, and Poetry magazine, at Pilsen’s Décima Musa, which is a fantastic space—high ceilings, stucco walls, tall plants, Frieda Kahlo images, and, my favorite, the unicorn statue rearing on top of the piano. Surroundings aside, the real delights of the evening were the three readers from the anthology, Rosa Alcalá, Kevin A. González, and Carolina Monsivais, who read their own work and selections of other poets featured in The Wind Shifts. The ever-delightful Johnny Vázquez Paz emcee’d, lending her sass and enthusiasm, and completed the evening by reading a poem by Brenda Cárdenas.

Kevin González was next, and delivered his jaw-droppingly good lines. His poems and stories have appeared from Poetry to Playboy, as well in Best New American Voices and Best American Nonrequired Reading. He had a terrific reading style—earnest but savvy, at ease but arresting. Listen to him read “Skin” at From the Fishhouse; here’s an excerpt:

When you see
your father’s name on the Caller ID,
a shot of whiskey spills suddenly
inside you.

Carolina Monsivais finished out the evening; her poems often address the inner workings of family. Her infant son happened to be in attendance, and clearly enjoyed hearing his mother’s voice in stereo. Her imagery gains accumulative strength throughout each poem, and her endings often veer off into directions foreign to the rest of the poem. Here’s the end of “How the Eye Works,” which is included in The Wind Shifts:

The next Palabra Pura will be June 17, featuring Emma Trelles, a poet from Miami, and Jacob Saenz, one of Chicago’s finest. Come to Décima Musa for another fine evening of poetry.

Jon Resh with his assistant (and wife) as he entertains a packed house with his “Chronology of Lesser Phobias,” most notably, his fear of animals with three legs and King Tut.

Jonathan Messinger reading from Hiding Out, his collection of short stories. His chosen piece, fitting for Mother’s Day weekend, featured a strained relationship between a mother and her older son, held together by their mutual interest in the narrator and younger brother.

Messinger and his musings on the intricacies of familial relationships kept smiles on these faces for the duration.

Joe Meno and Charles Kim of The Astronomer weave their respective mediums together.

Squeezing between the shelves.

Literago attended Joe Meno’s release party for his new novel, The Great Perhaps on Thursday, May 7 at Quimby’s Bookstore. Joined by friends and fellow writers Resh and Messinger and musican Kim, Meno unveiled what all three friends claimed as their favorite Meno piece yet.  Meno was gracious as he shyly took the microphone after Messinger’s introduction touting his friend’s recent success. Dramatically accompanied by Kim, Mr. Meno read an excerpt from his latest novel that placed the novel’s central characters, a family of four, at the Lincoln Park Zoo, the parents in search of a day of normalcy with their two polarized teenaged daughters.

All in all, it was a low-key night at a kickass bookstore with some humorous and talented writers, an audience tending towards participation and laughter, and bright little moments like Kim’s musical interpretation of a seizure and Messinger’s story’s closing line:

“I hoped that this was the kind of thing families are meant to withstand.”

Today’s temperamental weather was well-suited for Chicago’s 10^th Annual Poetry Fest. Snugly tucked away in the basement rooms of Harold Washington Library, Poetry Fest’s schedule included morning meetings, a reading by Pulitzer Prize recipient Rita Dove, and Poetry Cram: An Open Mic.

I attended Poetry Cram, which operates under the objective of including as many poets into the two-hour performance as possible.  Poets present represented a kaleidoscope of local presses, including (but not limited to) Free Lunch, After Hours, and Third World Press and was emcee’d by ChicagoPoetry.com founder C.J. Laity.  In case you missed it, the Cram was recorded for WBEZ: Chicago Public Radio, air-date unknown.

here's Chicago poet Tara Stringfellow and her 1st published book. Congrats to all participants on some great work!

Below, some photos of the Stop Smiling 20 Interviews release party last Thursday. Big thanks to photographer Justin Goh for shooting this event, held at Design Within Reach.

Literago attended Featherproof’s opening for Zach Plague’s new book Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring . As the photos show, the party (thankfully) did not match the title of the book. When art and writing mixes gorgeously, it’s a very good thing. Kudos, Featherproof! (P.S.: The last photo of the googly-eyed guy is our author, Mr. Plague.)

Last Sunday at Steppenwolf, several Chicago teachers (including Toni Asante Lightfoot, Bill Ayers, Amanda Klonsky, Avery R. Young … and a cheesecake brownie) told stories — to kick off Bob Boone’s Teacher Tales project, and also to raise money for Young Chicago Authors.

Young Chicago Authors provides free student-centered, artist-led workshops to youth in schools and communities throughout Chicago. At the fundraiser, they also provided macaroni and cupcakes, which makes them even awesomer in my book. Cheese and frosting > crackers and broccoli.

The best came last, when youth performance artists did a small set (to an unfortunately smaller crowd). Melanie “George” Decelles’ performance was particularly bright, thanks in part to her electrically purple hair. She read about Israel: personally, politically, and eloquently, too. That’s a hard mix. Adam Gottleib called, hilariously and cheekily, for more PDA at Northside. And I was struck by Esther Ikoro, who dedicated her piece to “all the teachers who say I have selective hearing,” then slammed into a smart, smart piece about blood diamonds.

All the youth will be performing at Brave New Voices, the national youth poetry slam, in DC this July. Break six legs!