I don't wish an early death to the bounty

Carson, Ferrante, Lispector, Manguso, and a new monthly class offering

Despite summer coming to an end, things on the farm are not slowing down. It was cold this morning when I woke up—45 degrees—but it feels like we may be far from a killing frost, which is good because there are still beans growing on the vine and it feels like the tomatoes just began ripening. I don’t wish an early death to the bounty but I do, as always, wish for a slower pace to life. The frost gives us that, but there’s a lot of urgency that comes with its anticipation.

Last week had family in town to help us tackle the project of re-siding the front of the barn. We got over a third of it done in two days and spent the rest of the time eating and laughing together. My grandmother brought us two dozen peaches and then my brother-in-law came to visit with two dozen more. We’ve baked nothing with them. Instead we eat them for every meal, sometimes between meals standing over the sink or in the middle of the yard.

This weekend I went to my grandmother’s garden club flower show. It was incredible. The notes from the judges were captivating and at times a little harsh. “Nice but a little too quiet,” was my favorite comment on the pond arrangements. I bought a bag of daffodil bulbs for $3 that had “apricot cups” scrawled on the brown paper bag.

I’ve been reading a lot.

In August, I picked up a copy of Anne Carson’s ‘Wrong Norma’ at one of my favorite local bookstores, Carroll & Carroll Booksellers. It is only the second Carson I read but I loved its form even more than the first (‘The Beauty of the Husband’—beautiful but not what I was looking for). I went back this past weekend for more Carson but she was gone so I picked up a copy of Clarice Lispector’s ‘The Besieged City’ (After just finishing my second Lispector, ‘Água Viva’) and what I thought was a children’s book by Ferrante but that I feel like perhaps my friend would not appreciate me gifting to her two young daughters (‘The Beach at Night’). There’s some language that in translation feels predatory. Perhaps I’m being too sensitive, or American. From a writing standpoint, I love the premise— it gives a voice to the lost doll in Ferrante’s ‘The Lost Daughter’. It made me wonder what stories of my own I can explore from a new angle in a new form.

On a walk the other morning, I read Connie Mattise’s latest newsletter ‘Me & Tolkien on the Hungry River’, part of a project in which she discusses LOTR chapter by chapter. Chapter 8 spoke a lot about her feelings of rage against men who are not doing enough to clean up the mess they’ve made, but also her need to release anger. After some of the atrocities committed by men in the news this week I needed to keep rereading the newsletter.

I don’t want to be mad anymore, though. I have a huge to-do list and being mad is getting in the way of making progress on it, and that thought’s making me more mad. I spent most of my late-20s and 30s being [mad], and I think it made me stupider. Big, stormy feelings clouding up my neural pathways. This morning I woke up thinking, This fog of rage toward men is valid, yes, but it’s making me brainless.

Connie’s words hit home and felt timely having just finished Sarah Manguso’s ‘Liars’ which brought up big feelings of rage towards men, especially the unwilling husband. My least favorite flavor. I, too, can’t help but feel like these years of rage took up so much of my precious time that I can’t get back. I feel like the solution is for them to step it up. But, I can only control myself.

I love the idea of a weekly reading journal in some form— a chapter by chapter synopsis of a story but that would mean I’d have to slow down. Anything to slow down. I have been reading ‘Braiding Sweetgrass’ (finally) slowly, but at the same time I read Claire Vaye Watkin’s ‘Battleborn’ quickly, each story better than the next. Each story leaving me thinking, is the next one going to be the bad one. As I put it down late last night and turned out the lights I went to sleep thinking about how there were no bad stories. It was delightful. The prose was perfect. The order of the stories, something I think a lot about, was delicious.

What book would I like to be in conversation with for weeks on end? If it were a re-read, I may choose a classic like ‘Little Women’ or ‘Anne of Green Gables’. Or, ‘We Took the Woods’ which I read from during my very casual wedding ceremony, if you could call it that. Praise be to Pennsylvania for the self-uniting marriage. Ferrante’s Neapolitan novels would be another delightful week-by-week read but would anyone stick around for that long? If I were in my twenties I would have chosen ‘Women Who Run With the Wolves’ which is not a bad choice but isn’t a text I feel as connected to these days. Maybe that makes it the best choice.

This past week I cancelled my in-person class ‘The Art of Writing about Art’. Interest was sadly too low for me to justify hosting it and too low to foster a rich discussion. The reading list is still one of my favorites so I plan to host the class at another time, but for now, I am pivoting to online classes for the remainder of the year. It’s where my people are anyhow! Most of my classes have been filled with friends who are nowhere near our farm.

For the next few months I plan to host a monthly Thursday evening hang out. I’m calling it the Thursday evening craft club. It’s a craft discussion which will be lower stakes than an online workshop. In this condensed gathering we will meet for 2 hours to discuss one craft element. There will be a little pre-reading but not as much as a full workshop. There will be some writing exercises. But there will also be time to ask questions and share our favorite works and build a community of writers online. The price will be lower than a typical class—$35. I will still cap the class at max 10 people for the sake of keeping it nice and small.

This is a great intro to a writing community. This is a great way to dip your toe in the waters of workshopping. This is a great way to pop in and see if one of my larger upcoming workshops will be for you! Bring your thoughts. Bring your opinions. Bring your willingness to change your mind.

Next Thursday…dialogue.

You can reserve your spot one of two ways:

• If you are reading this as an email, reply and let me know you’re coming!

• If you are reading this in the Substack app, send me a comment with your email address.

Either way you will make it on the list and I will follow up with the zoom link, the reading list, and details on how to pay for the class.

Have questions? Email me at corrinmagditch@gmail.com or message me on Instagram.

Until then,

CM

Books on my nightstand that are next to be read

• ‘Consider the Oyster’ MFK Fisher- I love Fisher’s books ‘Among Friends’ and ‘How to Cook a Wolf’. I’ve been in the mood for food writing so I picked up a new copy.

• ‘Shipping News’ Annie Proulx- this book has been following me around for awhile. Recently my husband’s uncle said he loved this book which was enough for me to move it to the top of the stack.

Some images as parting gifts