Hi writers,
This month I stopped using Mailchimp to circulate my newsletter and I switched over to Substack. Substack is a newsletter platform for writers and podcasters that has gained considerable popularity over the last few years. I wanted to join in on the fun and be a part of the larger creative community.
Don’t worry – nothing will change on your end. If you’re getting this email, then there’s nothing more for you to do. You’re officially subscribed! Thanks for being here. I hope you’ll stay.
I am calling this Substack the intangibles. I chose that name because I deal in the intangibles every day. The things I write about, many of the things I value – most of them can’t be measured with charts and graphs. How can you measure the impact of a poem or a novel? Or a memoir that changed your life? How can writers measure their own productivity when they’re writing and then erasing words all day? Maybe you spot a beautiful flower on your afternoon walk, you feel your irises widen to take in the view of each petal, you notice your shoulders relaxing, you think of the last time you saw the same type of flower, maybe at a joyful wedding or on a beach vacation. There – you’ve been changed by this flower. How can you measure the exact amount of happiness it brings you, the way it increases your quality of life? There’s no such metric, at least not any metric I’ve heard of. But that doesn’t mean these intangible things aren’t incredibly valuable, maybe even the most valuable things we have.
I’m hoping this Substack will continue to be a space where we can push back against the narrative that writers have to be lone wolves and instead be in community with each other, talking about our wins and our frustrations, our first drafts and final drafts, and what we’re learning about what it means to be a writer. This is a space where we can learn more about the craft of writing, and follow along as we make progress. Thanks for being here.
Right now my Substack is free for everyone, as I believe that everyone should have access to this community. But I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what it means to support the art you want to see in the world, so if you’d like to support me at an additional level, I invite you to pay for a subscription.
Paid subscriptions offer a way for you to support the research, writing and time that it takes to produce this Substack and keep it accessible for everyone. Your support also makes it possible for me to continue my own creative practice, which primarily includes the memoir and personal essays I am writing, but also makes room for the literary citizenship and advocacy that I am proud to be involved in. This includes serving on the board of a local disability-focused organization, working with a therapy collective to advocate for more inclusive mental health professionals and establish a Disability Therapy Fund, and participation in various arts advocacy events.
It's easy to take art for granted, especially when we have access to a lot of it for free. But art makes our world more interesting, more beautiful and more connected, which is why we need to reinforce the value of it every chance we get.
The more we can support the literary ecosystem as a whole, the more room we can make for writers of all kinds. Not everybody gets to make art. It is not a very efficient process, and because of the way our economic systems are structured it’s usually not lucrative. That means a lot of people have to choose between making art vs a good quality of life. I am lucky that, at the moment, I don’t have to make that choice, but I still believe that the more we recognize the time and effort that goes into putting words onto a page, the more we can create a world that values art, that knows writers should be compensated, where hopefully those choices between making art and paying your bills won’t be quite so stark.
Having your support means that I can pay it forward, and continue to amplify other writers whose voices need to be heard. Let's work together to make the writing and publishing industry a more transparent, inclusive and welcoming place for everyone.
Paid subscribers will also get access to monthly writing prompts (my prompts are a little bit of magic), access to my entire Substack archive and the ability to comment on posts and join this writing community I'm building. Thank you so much for being a part of this community!
The month of June gave me lots of opportunities to get out of my comfort zone. The weekend of June 10th I was invited to participate in the first ever PENAmerica Piedmont Hackathon. If you don’t know about PEN America, it’s a global literary and human rights advocacy organization that champions freedom to write and celebrates creative expression. Right now it’s putting a lot of efforts toward fighting the increasing number of book bans in the US.
This hackathon was the brainchild of writer/PEN ambassador Deonna Kelli Sayed and mediated by her and writer David Wright Faludé. The purpose of the day was to bring people from all parts of the literary ecosystem -- booksellers, writers, journalists, professors -- together to discuss what we believe are the key issues facing our work. Then it was our job to, well, hack a solution. (Thus the name: hackathon.)
I had a lot to contribute to the banned books discussion. I reflected on a childhood where I didn’t see myself – a person short of stature, with a limb difference – in any of the books or TV shows or media around me. When a child doesn’t have language for themselves the sense of alienation radiates to every part of their life. It’s an isolating experience, and one that can be made so much easier by having access to books that can reflect your own life. These days I’m thinking a lot about the attacks on the LGBTQ community, and all of the people growing into a new identity without a community, without seeing themselves in the media around them, without language for their own lived experience. My heart breaks for them.
During the Hackathon I got to meet a lot of creative people who deeply care about the issues facing publishing, writing, bookselling and journalism. We didn't solve all the problems that day, but we broke through the walls of a siloed industry and I appreciated this rare opportunity to talk with such a wide cross section of the literary ecosystem. Imagine what could happen if we had these sorts of conversations all the time?
In June I was also featured on the Artstigators Instagram, and they asked me all about my creative process and what I love about the local arts community. I had a lot to say. Interviews are always opportunities to refine and revisit your goals and the reason you’re working toward them, so I appreciated the space to reflect. You can check the feature out here.
What I’m writing: My personal essay that won 2nd place in the Resource Center’s annual essay contest was published in South of the Garden in June. You can read it here. And the essay contest just opened for submissions (deadline to submit is July 31st) so check it out!
What I’m reading: This gorgeous personal essay, Observations on Ice, was recommended to me by a writer in my Monday Night Writing Group. I loved reading the essay and was tickled to realize at the end that it was written by a graduate school friend of mine. Small world.
I was also moved by this beautiful poem.
What I’m watching: Season 2 of The Bear is so full of heart, so lived-in, and takes the viewer along to witness deep character development with almost every member of the cast. And there’s a Coach K-related storyline!
Until next time,
Allison
I joined Substack because I am excited for the opportunity to bring together a community of other writers and readers who enjoy learning and thinking about writing creative nonfiction and memoir. If you’re excited about creating community too, or you learned something or enjoyed this post, consider giving it a like, letting me know your thoughts in the comments, or gifting a subscription to a friend. Your support is so appreciated.
You are reading the intangibles, by writer and creative writing instructor Allison Kirkland. This publication is geared toward writers of memoir and creative nonfiction and the people who love them.
Want more? You can find me on Instagram or visit my website. Thanks for reading. I’m so glad you’re here.