reading | Rita M. Gardner

2017 began with a tsunami of events, some potentially cataclysmic and others more in sync with seasonal cycles. Someone forgot to turn off the faucets of ill-will that have been spewing forth in our nation, and Mother Nature forgot to shut off water spigots here at home. Waterfall on Mt. Tamalpais in Marin County CA As rainstorms shudder against my windows and alternate facts compete with common sense, I’ve often felt like the imperiled dams and rivers in our state: over-filled, overflowed, and thoroughly wrung out.
But: Today the sun is shining. Neon-green coats the hills, and succulents gratefully absorb the wetness. I’m grateful for the reminder that everything has a season – and that Spring is just around the corner. There’s new growth on the literary front too: the recent publication of two anthologies on subjects near to my heart – memoir and travel. The Magic of Memoir: Inspiration for the Writing Journey, and Wandering in Andalusia: The Soul of Southern Spain are both fully in bloom, and readings are flowering across the country. Please join me for upcoming Bay Area events where I’ll be reading along with other contributors.

UPCOMING EVENTS: wanderinginandalusiacover

Thursday, March 9, 7:00-8:30p at A Great Good Place for Books, 6120 La Salle Avenue, Oakland (Montclair District), CA. It will be lively group reading by writers featured in Wandering in Andalusia, the latest anthology in the prize-winning Wandering series of travel tales. Edited by Linda Watanabe McFerrin and Joanna Biggar, this enchanting collection illuminates the soul of Southern Spain, a territory ripe with contradiction and beauty.

Friday, March 10, 7:00p-8:30p, at Kaleidoscope Coffee, 109 Park Place, Point Richmond, CA. Come Experience the Magic of Memoir! Book cover of The Magic of Memoir

The event is a celebration of memoir, with editors and contributors of The Magic of Memoir. Co-editors Linda Joy Myers and Brooke Warner will be joined by a handful of contributors who earned their placement in this inspiring, wise, and deep collection of essays about the journey, the process, and the craft of writing memoir. Join us!

ON THE LITERARY ARTS FRONT:

book display in Point Richmond Feb 13-Apr 5

Display in Pt. Richmond Post Office February 13-April 5, 2017

The Arts of Point Richmond features “For the Love of Books – A Celebration of Local Authors” This sampling of books by writer members is on display in Point Richmond’s post office building. 104 Washington Ave. It features local authors: Abigal Bok, Diana Paul Bort, Steve Early, Michael Fitzgerald, Rita Gardner, Suzanne Gordon, Robert Lipton, Heli Perrett, Toula Siacoutos, Jacqueline Wales, and Christine Volker.

cacophony-flyer On the ART FRONT: “Cacophony” is a new juried art exhibition at Kaleidoscope Coffee, 109 Park Place, Point Richmond – March 1 through April 28, 2017. Please join us at the reception, Friday, March 10, 4:00-6:00p.

OTHER BOOK NEWS:

In other news, my memoir The Coconut Latitudes continues to expand my family circle and find new readers. Book clubs locally and across the country are still choosing it to read, and many invite me to participate in their discussions, which I enjoy immensely. A tip of the hat to last month’s book club gathering in El Sobrante – a great group of book enthusiasts and lovely hosts.

And finally – something to bring a smile: My community of Point Richmond has a fairy godfather…an artist who continues to create whimsical fairy (or leprechaun) habitations on a one-block section of Washington Avenue (between Nicholl Avenue and Terrace Avenue.) His latest creation: a library with mini-books, and even a tiny sign offering a reward for a lost ladybug pet. It’s a delight for children and anyone young at heart. If you’re in town, check it out!
Mini library in Point Richmond

Solstice. A perfect metaphor for our dual selves, darkness and light. Celebrated since ancient times, it’s the occasion when the sun appears to stand still just for a moment before an inevitable seasonal change begins. In the Southern Hemisphere, it is the longest day – a time to fling oneself outside, to inhabit the long flame of day and bask in its lingering afterglow. A time to make stories.

Here in the Northern Hemisphere, the Winter Solstice marks the shortest day and longest night: a time to draw in, gather ourselves and tell our stories. Storytelling is as old as humanity and almost as necessary as breathing. In many ways, we are our stories. And the tales we make (and the lives we live) are both wildly individual and communal. We draw from and nourish ourselves from others’ stories as much as our own.

I’m grateful this past year has been full of that kind of nourishment. In addition to writing my own words, I’ve savored others’ storytelling in their words, in books. From heartbreaking revelations exuding tremulous bravery to quirky accounts of misadventures, and everything in between – I’ve witnessed the pain and joys of others’ lives. Just a few books that I read in 2015: Beautiful Affliction by Lene Fogelberg, Heartprints of Africa by Cinda Adams Brooks, Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness by Alexandra Fuller, Fourteen by Leslie Johansen Nack, The Thriver’s Edge by Donna Stoneham, and – because sometimes we just need to laugh out loud: The Sex Lives of Cannibals by J. Marteen Troost.

I’m thankful to all of you for sharing your personal journeys, and grateful that The Coconut Latitudes continues to touch so many people in unexpected ways. I’m also delighted to be included in a new book this year, My Gutsy Story, (2^nd Ed.) an anthology edited by Sonia Marsh, featuring inspirational tales about taking chances in life. Sometimes it seems that we should stop taking any chances in light of recent world events. As we reel from news and disasters, we hold our breath and wonder what new conflicts await in 2016 to challenge our hearts. In the midst of that uncertainty, maybe the best we can do is just continue to live our lives, tell our stories and share our truths. Regardless of the good and evil in humanity, we can take solace that the earth is predictable. It tilts on its axis away from or toward the sun. Darkness and light; inexorable shifts in one direction or the other.
As the solstice occurs, we take a breath and carry on as a new year is birthed. Right now trees are bare, but new buds are just biding their time to bloom. I’m looking forward to another writing adventure in March, joining Wanderland Writers in Andalucía, Spain. Led by Linda Watanabe McFerrin and Joanna Biggar, a group of us will explore new territory and find ways to put our experiences into words. Who knows what new tales will emerge?

I hope 2016 brings peace where possible, surprises and joy to all. And to my literary sisters and brothers: Write on!

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Spring News 2017

Solstice and new beginnings