Category: on inspiration

Exploring the House of Eternal Return

Seana Moorhead Leave a comment

I recently got lost in the House of Eternal Return. I should not have been surprised. After all, when I opened the refrigerator, instead of shelves with packaged food was a dark narrow hallway. I bent my head and stepped into the fridge (a weird experience itself). And then, most alarming was that I eventually ended up in a cave with a giant woolly beast towering over me.

Meow Wolf is an art collective based in Santa Fe, New Mexico.  In 2016, they opened their “The House of Eternal Return” — an interactive, multimedia art experience. Vince Kadlubet, one of Meow Wolf’s co-founders, refers to as “immersive storytelling.” George Martin (of Games of Thrones), provided substantial funding to help the over 133 artists create this art installation in a former bowling alley.  

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ER the perfect place for writerly inspiration!

Tracey Richardson Leave a comment

Because we’re such a curious bunch, writers are always on the lookout for material to inspire, educate, fascinate. Cafes, restaurants, concerts, sporting events — any place where people congregate — is a great source for material.

But the best place? Go sit in a hospital emergency room for a while, because these places are teeming with humanity. An ER is a window to the world of how people respond, cope, survive (or not), how they give and take, how they communicate and, well, everything in between.

Recently I made the trip to the ER because I had an excruciatingly painful flare-up of a shoulder condition, and I wasn’t sure exactly what was causing it. The pain was making me nauseous and spiking my blood pressure, so off my partner and I went for the long wait to see a doctor.

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Blurring the Lines Between Art and Literature

Lori Twining 4 Comments
Tom Thomson – Huntsville, July 2013

Are you a writer? Are you an artist? Can you be both?

Of course you can!

Dating back to prehistoric times, visual art led the way to telling stories. Cave or rock paintings were etched or drawn on walls and ceilings using pictographs. So, the real storytellers were the ones who could draw. 

When I was growing up, our family played the classic board game, Pictionary during every long weekend gathering. It was one of our favourite games to play on family night. Basic rules: You pull a card from the pile, read the one-word on it (without telling anyone what it is) and then draw a picture of the word, so the other team can guess what you are drawing within one minute. Let’s just say, there were many hours of laughing our ass off at the people who could only draw stick figures. We had a hard time distinguishing a hat from a rocket ship, or a turtle from a car. These people were not storytellers or artists… they were considered the comic relief for the room, and I’m sure they had many other talents that just weren’t applicable to this particular game. Not to toot my own horn, but damn, I was the Queen of Pictionary and that is probably why I remember these flashbacks so easily compared to a few other family members who have erased these memories from our entire childhood.

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Failures and Follies

Seana Moorhead Leave a comment
Can I learn anything from my failures?

I’ve had a recent run of small failures.

I had a goal for my dog Ruby and I to qualify at the Ontario Regional Agility competition this May. I trained with her for the past year with this goal in my mind, taking courses and practicing runs with clear and focused handling. Despite these efforts, we failed to met our goal in the competition early this month. I blame my foot which had developed severe planter fasciitis in the weeks leading up to the competition making it difficult for me to walk, much less run. It’s still a disappointment.  

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What I Learned from My First Marathon

Diane Ferguson Leave a comment

I wrote in my first novel marathon two weeks ago, in support of the Adult Education Centre in Owen Sound. The marathon was organized by the Owen Sound and North Grey Union Library but held at the Ginger Press bookstore. There were five of us in cozy quarters. There’s nothing like writing in a room full of books, whether at a bookstore, or a library. All those volumes goading you on, We did it, surely you can too…

I’m used to writing in short sprints, so the idea of a marathon was a little daunting. And I had other peoples’ expectations on me. Would I write enough to honour their donations? What was expected of me? I’d already stated that I need to sleep, meaning I wouldn’t be pulling an all-nighter.

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