Up and running

The La Salle Creative Non-Fiction Workshop for doctors is up and running. On its sixth iteration -- yes, it has since taken on a life of its own since its launch during the pandemic -- we now have allied medical professionals (nurses and a radiation technologist), not just physicians. The combined demographics allows a richer discussion. 

On our first session last night, we discussed promising works of creative non-fiction -- one in poetry, the other two in prose. 

As always I learn a great deal from my co-panelists, Prof. Marjorie Evasco and Dr. Joti Tabula. Joti is this year's workshop director. This annual meeting is a reunion of sorts, the only time of the year when I'm able to talk about writing and language. I love the practice of close reading the text -- looking over and beyond the content of the piece, but in the micro details of language, the unseen ambitions and threads that weave through the literary draft. What we work on are our fellows' drafts. Calling them that -- "drafts" -- allows a kind of liberty to offer recommendations for revisions, pinpoint the strength of the piece, and introduce questions that the authors can further explore and develop.  

Next week, we'll have two sessions to discuss the remaining creative non-fiction pieces.