Emerging Form

“In our evolution, we are coming to understand nuances and in betweens are necessary to living a full life,” says poet and painter Wendy Videlock. She quotes F. Scott Fitzgerald: “The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposing ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function. One should, for example, be able to see that things are hopeless yet be determined to make them otherwise.” In this episode, we continue to explore how life itself is the greatest creative process and how we are asked to live and create in the messy middle, and how all of us, all of us, are makers.Wendy Videlock lives in Palisade, Colorado, on the Western Slope of the Rockies. Her full-length books of poetry include Nevertheless, Slingshots and Love Plums, The Dark Gnu and Other Poems. Her blog, Ghost Buffalo explores painting and poeming and life in the west. Her work has appeared in Poetry, Rattle, Terrain, Able Muse, New Criterion and many more. Her artwork, including alcohol inks, is sold in galleries around the West, and she teaches in a freelance capacity across the arts. She organizes poetry festivals on the Western Slope and is well respected in the formalist community.View Wendy’s beautiful art on her instagram Wendy’s website This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit emergingform.substack.com/subscribe

In today’s bonus episode, Rosemerry and Christie discuss the poetry and music that have been getting them through this difficult time. Fall (Herbst) by Rainer Maria Rilke The Thing with Feathers by Chris BurskLet X=X, Laurie AndersonNo One, Alicia Keys*Photo by Finn Trommer This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit emergingform.substack.com/subscribe

This is the most difficult episode we’ve ever recorded. In the span of two weeks, Christie and her family were thrown into a scary state of limbo and Rosemerry experienced an unthinkable loss. In this episode, we discuss what we’ve noticed about our relationship to creativity in this time of upheaval. Rosemerry explains how her 15-year practice of writing daily poems helped prepare her to meet this moment of grief, and Christie discusses her reluctance to solidify this experience by turning it into written words. We also talk about moving toward uncertainty and our heightened sense of noticing in this difficult time, and how to meet the tragedy and find the potential. Previous Emerging Form episodes mentioned:Episode 38: Kim Langley Episode 40: Cheryl Strayed Episode 45: Catherine Price *Photo by Finn Trommer This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit emergingform.substack.com/subscribe

In this week’s episode (recorded in late July), we jump right in with our delightful guest, Andy Offut Irwin. One of the most sought after performing storytellers in the United States, Andy has been a Featured Teller at the National Storytelling Festival more than ten times. He has appeared fourteen times as Teller in Residence at International Storytelling Center. Among other gigs, Andy has been a Guest Artist at La Guardia High School of Art, Music, and Performing Arts in New York (The “FAME!” School); he has been a Keynote Speaker/Performer at the Library of Congress-Virburnum Foundation Conference on Family Literacy; a Guest Writer Performer with the Georgia Tech Glee Club; and a guest composer with the Amherst College Men’s Double Quartet.Andy has held a few almost-real-jobs that include: Artist-In-Residence in Theatre at Emory University’s Oxford College from 1991 to 2007. (He continues serving at Oxford from time-to-time as Artist-in-Just-Passing-Through). A very long time ago Andy spent five years as a performer, writer, and director for SAK Theatre at Walt Disney World.Andy is the recipient of many awards, but he is tickled as can be to have received the Oracle 2013 Circle of Excellence from the National Storytelling Network.It all that weren’t enough, he is also a world class whistler! Andy Offut Irwin This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit emergingform.substack.com/subscribe

Sometimes, telling a story can save you. In this episode, we speak with novelist, short story writer and journalist Charlie Jane Anders about her new book, “how writing helps us set rules, create frames, and surprise ourselves with what is possible. “Stories keep us alive,” she says. We also talk about writing and politics, writing the story you want to read, changing gears and creativity as a “saving grace.” Charlie Jane Anders is the author of Victories Greater Than Death, the first book in a new young-adult trilogy published in April 2021,along with the forthcoming short story collection Even Greater Mistakes, and the book we’ll be talking about today:Never Say You Can’t Survive, which  comes out in August. Her other books include The City in the Middle of the Night and All the Birds in the Sky. Her fiction and journalism have appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, Slate, McSweeney's, Mother Jones, the Boston Review, Tor.com, Tin House, Teen Vogue, Conjunctions, Wired Magazine, and other places. Her TED Talk, "Go Ahead, Dream About the Future" got 700,000 views in its first week. With Annalee Newitz, she co-hosts the podcast Our Opinions Are Correct.*Please note: this episode was recorded on July 20, 2021. ShownotesFor All Mankind Apple+ tv seriesNever Say You Can’t SurviveVictories Greater Than DeathCharlie Jane’s Ted Talk on Imagination and the FutureCharlie Jane Anders website This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit emergingform.substack.com/subscribe

Have you ever felt like an imposter in your own creative life? As if you are not truly as competent as others perceive you to be? In this episode of Emerging Form, we talk about imposter syndrome with violinist, award-winning author and scholar/associate professor Jessica Chiccehitto Hindman. Imposter syndrome is not always just your crazy brain telling you that you're not good enough — sexism and racism really does hold people back, she says. Her debut book, Sounds Like Titanic: A Memoir, explores this theme, and much more that we touch on, including ambition, identity, what is fake vs. real, and what makes good art. Jessica Chiccehitto Hindman This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit emergingform.substack.com/subscribe

Failure is, of course, a big part of life, and learning how to meet it in healthy ways is a major part of creative process. In this episode, Rosemerry presents six or more ways we might fail, drawing from Twyla Tharp’s The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life. Rosemerry and Christie talk through the different kinds of failure--their experiences and successful ways to move through each kind of failure. They also talk about second chances, change, public vs. private failure, and the importance of humility. Plus the importance of choosing titles and a two-minute creativity test.  This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit emergingform.substack.com/subscribe

Two of the most important tools any creative has? Your experiences and your time to create. And your biggest impediment? Distractions. In this episode of Emerging Form, we speak with author Catherine Price about how to strengthen “the muscle of attention,” how to set boundaries for yourself, how to give your brain space and how to change your habits. She focuses on our relationship with our phones—designed to be a tool, they are often our biggest distraction, stealing not only our time but also our ability to be fully present in our experiences, the raw material for making creative connections. This is an essential episode for anyone serious about their creative practice.Catherine Price is a science journalist, speaker, and author of numerous books including How to Break Up With Your Phone, Vitamania: How Vitamins Revolutionized the Way We Think About Food, and the forthcoming book, The Power of Fun: How to Feel Alive Again. As a freelance journalist, her work has appeared in publications including The Best American Science Writing, The New York Times, Popular Science, O, The Oprah Magazine, The Los Angeles Times, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Washington Post Magazine, Parade, Salon, Slate, Men’s Journal, Self, Medium, Health Magazine, and Outside, among others. She's also the founder of ScreenLifeBalance.com, which is part of her mission to help people scroll less and live more. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit emergingform.substack.com/subscribe

Openness and curiosity--how do these attributes contribute to the success of creative endeavors? In this episode of Emerging Form, we speak with science fiction and nonfiction author Annalee Newitz. They talk about back up plans, the relationship between luck and hard work, how writing for free can really pay off, how we frame our experience, challenging our expectations, and creating opportunities. Annalee Newitz writes science fiction and nonfiction. They are the author of the book Four Lost Cities: A Secret History of the Urban Age, and the novels The Future of Another Timeline, and Autonomous, which won the Lambda Literary Award. As a science journalist, they are a writer for the New York Times and elsewhere, and have a monthly column in New Scientist. They have published in The Washington Post, Slate, Popular Science, Ars Technica, The New Yorker, and The Atlantic, among others. They are also the co-host of the Hugo Award-winning podcast Our Opinions Are Correct. Previously, they were the founder of io9, and served as the editor-in-chief of Gizmodo. Annalee’s newsletter Our Opinions Are Correct, Annalee’s podcast with Charlie Jane AndersAnnalee’s booksTechsploitation, Annalee’s websiteChristie’s book proposal workshop This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit emergingform.substack.com/subscribe

Struggle. It’s an essential part of the creative process. How do we move past the desire to give up and find the energy and time to continue? In this episode, Rosemerry and Christie talk about recent projects and their longtime experience with how to stay with a project when we’d rather give up. We speak about going back to the beginning, how community helps, ways to create accountability, deadlines, finding “what’s at stake,” and how questions are sometimes the answer. David Petersen: Writing NaturallyGeorgia Frances King This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit emergingform.substack.com/subscribe