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Jessica Wilbanks

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When I Spoke in Tongues

Virginia Center for the Creative Arts

December 23, 2013June 19, 2018

My first residency.

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Journeying through Spirituality

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Song in the Year of Catastrophe⁣ by Wendell Berry⁣ ⁣ I began to be followed by a voice saying:⁣ "It can't last. It can't last.⁣ Harden yourself. Harden yourself.⁣ Be ready. Be ready."⁣ ⁣ "Go look under the leaves,"⁣ it said, "for what is living there⁣ is dead in your tongue."⁣ And it said, "Put your hands⁣ into the earth. Live close⁣ to the ground. Learn the darkness.⁣ Gather round you all⁣ the things that you love, name⁣ their names, prepare⁣ to lose them. It will be⁣ as if all you know were turned⁣ around within your body."⁣ ⁣ And I went and put my hands⁣ into the ground, and they took root⁣ and grew into a season's harvest.⁣ I looked behind the veil⁣ of the leaves, and heard voices⁣ that I knew had been dead⁣ in my tongue years before my birth.⁣ I learned the dark.⁣ ⁣ And still the voice stayed with me.⁣ Waking in the early mornings,⁣ I could hear it, like a bird⁣ bemused among the leaves,⁣ a mockingbird idly singing⁣ in the autumn of catastrophe:⁣ "Be ready. Be ready.⁣ Harden yourself. Harden yourself."⁣ ⁣ And I heard the sound⁣ of a great engine pounding⁣ in the air, and a voice asking:⁣ "Change or slavery?⁣ Hardship or slavery?"⁣ and the voices answering:⁣ "Slavery! Slavery!"⁣ And I was afraid, loving⁣ what I know would be lost.⁣ Then the voice following me said:⁣ "you have not yet come close enough.⁣ Come nearer the ground. Learn⁣ from the woodcock in the woods⁣ whose feathering is a ritual⁣ of the fallen leaves,⁣ and from the nesting quail⁣ whose speckling makes her hard to see⁣ in the long grass.⁣ Study the coat of the mole.⁣ For the farmer shall wear⁣ the greenery and the furrows⁣ of his fields, and bear⁣ the long standing of the woods."⁣ ⁣ And I asked: "you mean a death, then?"⁣ "yes," the voice said. "Die⁣ into what the earth requires of you."⁣ Then let go all holds, and sank⁣ like a hopeless swimmer into the earth,⁣ and at last came fully into the ease⁣ and the joy of that place,⁣ all my lost ones returning.

I’m looking forward to teaching a three-hour introductory memoir class for @writersleagueoftexas on Wednesday evening, February 26th. It’s online, so you can join no matter where you are...and the price is very reasonable. ⁣ We’ll be doing a lot of writing exercises, going over strategies for generating material, talking through various options for structure, and focusing on how to move forward without getting overwhelmed. We’ll also touch on paths to publication, ethical considerations, and how to handle writing about difficult material. I love teaching this class...it’s a LOT of material packed into three hours, and previous students have found it helpful regardless of where they are in their memoir project. ⁣ ⁣ For more information, please visit http://www.writersleague.org/calendar/Memoir101Online or click on the link in the events section of my website. ⁣ ⁣ #writingclasses #memoir #womenwriters #writersofinstagram

Gorgeous foggy morning in Galveston.

For my latest "Craft Club" interview over at @catapult, I interviewed the amazing fiction writer (and my fellow @universityofhouston alum) Selena Anderson. We unpacked the process that she went through to write "Godmother Tea," which you can read online in its entirety at @oxfordamerican. When I asked Selena about the first glimmer of the story, she talked about this big gold mirror that ended up birthing the rest of the piece. I loved the way Selena talked about the process of finding that mirror and putting it into scene. It feels so true, in both nonfiction and fiction: story doesn't come alive unless you fully commit to a highly specific world. Check out the link in my bio for a link to the full interview.

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