community engagement
i knew i was rejected before i even sat down. one was already sneering and the other was looking bored.
'firstly, we loved your writing. what do you even call it?'
i told them, but they werent convinced. i wasnt convinced either. but the quality of my work wasnt the issue. the problem was the four workshops i had been asked to propose. i'd thought, well, i'm a teacher, i know a bit about writing, this is a writers residency, so i will teach some things about creative writing. what more do they want?
'welllll' said the arts worker, 'last year we ran over a fifteen hundred writer's workshops. we've seen what works and what doesnt, and from our experience, writing doesnt work'.
i was surprised. out of curiosity i asked her what does work.
'welllll, one poet got them making instruments out of cardboard boxes. that was really fun'.
i didnt like this. why couldnt the poet teach poetry? i asked if there was a way i could still teach poetry.
'welllll, what might work is that instead of everyone writing a poem, you read one out loud and everyone responds by making a little sculpture out of plasticine. then at the end, you squish them all together and take a cute and funny picture'.
but, i said, i don't have experience teaching tiny kids.
'not just kids. adults like to have fun too'.
but, i said, i was thinking about, like, normal adults.
'and by normal adults... you mean your friends'.
well, no, not really, i said, shit, i mean, no, yeah, maybe, maybe a few would come, sure, probably not, but like hopefully, hopefully i'd get some others.
the arts worker stared at me. the silent one continued to look around the room.
'i mean... yeah... you could try running your writing workshop, and yeah, maybe a few of your facebook friends would come out of the woodwork, but.. we're a public service. it doesn't really align with our goals'
but, i said, arts and crafts, sure, im all for it, but like, isnt literacy also a valuable goal?
'well' exhaled the arts worker, her eyes going wide, her spine stretch upward, 'we do care about literacy. of course we do: we're a public library.'