Connectivity
I am writing from the porch of the Smith Library on Bestor Plaza in Chautauqua Institution this early Tuesday morning. The campanile is chiming hymns. Bikes and walkers are all out, birds are singing and people are reading newspapers and drinking coffee on the green. The library is generous enough to provide a Wi-Fi signal so powerful that it can be tapped from any where on the plazai even when the library is closed. I have been out of touch because of lack of connectivity. But I HAVE been connecting with writers! It’s quite an experience to talk plots and publishers at every meal with writers from across the country. I’m rooming with a writer in a small hotel filled with writers, staying in rooms named for writers!
Yesterday we heard our first speakers–four of them. We had dinner together and heard from Jerry Spinelli about how his childhood informs his writing (as well as life with his 6 children, 16 grandchildren and writer wife). He told us to “write what you care about”. Along with our admission to the conference is a gate pass that gets us into all the cultural events–and there is so much here. I’ve heard a symphony (Shostakovich, whose 100th birthday is this year), an opera (La Traviata), and a choir with massed orchestra (wow!).
Now I’m off to meet with Eileen Spinelli to have my children’s manuscript critiqued. Time to connect with writers.
