2019 has been a real bear of a year, and is maybe why I have not updated my website since August of 2018. From both Nathan and I starting new jobs to buying our first house and dealing everything that comes from home-ownership, plus our doggo being sick and Nathan being gone for five months…I am looking forward to this new decade.
I spent my fall semester overwhelmed with reading and writing thanks to the 600 level Creative Writing Workshop I somehow snuck my way into. While the coursework was definitely stressful I feel as though I have grown in my abilities as a writer and in my ability to analyze and critique the work of others. My passion for the strength of words is renewed. We also read a lot of incredible authors whose work I was unfamiliar with including Lauren Groff and Inger Christensen.
Throughout the course I mainly worked on improving my abilities as an arts writer and shared seven reviews with my fellow classmates who provided critical feedback and greatly helped me to improve how I approach the reviews I write. I also experimented with writing poetry and prose and hope to continue both going forward.
So Here I would like to share two pieces I developed over the course of the semester, the first a review I wrote of Ebony Patterson’s ...while the dew is still on the roses... at the Speed Art Museum, and the second, a short story piece I wrote titled Cat Neighborhood. Cat Neighborhood is loosely based on reality but at the advice of some of classmates I altered the truth to make the story work better. Feel free to share any feedback.
jessica e. oberdick 