OLD Whidbey Life Magazine

Author: Dianna MacLeod

Location, Location, Location: Whidbey Writers Workshop MFA Program

BY DIANNA MACLEOD
Whidbey Life Magazine contributor
August 13, 2014

What’s true for homebuyers is equally true for writers: place is paramount.

The Captain Whidbey Inn in historic Coupeville on Whidbey Island (all photos by Martha McCartney)

According to novelist Molly Gloss, “The small, essential details of place make the fictional world whole and convincing, as if these particular people could only have performed these particular acts in this particular setting.” Her remarks, delivered at the Whidbey Writers Workshop MFA Residency Program held at the Captain Whidbey Inn Aug. 4-12, had the writers in attendance nodding their heads and taking notes. The Whidbey Writers Workshop MFA Program is one of the writing programs offered by the Northwest Institute of Literary Arts (NILA), located on Whidbey Island.

If place is as important as Gloss claims, there’s a kind of genius at work in NILA’s choice of venue. The Captain Whidbey Inn—intriguing, suggestive, evocative—is not unlike a good tale. It contains twists and turns: narrow passageways, blind alleys, innumerable staircases inside and out. It grafts myth to fact: although reputed to be constructed from trunks of the Madrone tree, it’s hard to believe the twisted stems of such trees could produce logs straight enough for building. The Inn’s history is filled with reversals and surprises: today’s front door was originally the back door because in the early 1900’s most guests arrived by boat and entered from Penn Cove. The Inn has what writers call “backstory” and what the rest of us call a past: it formerly served as a boarding house, private residence, post office, general store and girls’ school. The Inn is even reputed to have a hovering presence, a ghost of its own—and it’s not who you might think. Even the name of the Inn has changed—as if the original name, Whid Isle Inn, was a working title abandoned for something better suited to the evolving story. Here in this setting, with its “details of place”—treadle sewing machines, steamer trunks, spinning wheels, crank phone, pump organ—gathered the 57 students enrolled in NILA’s master’s program for ten days of study, discussion and debate about the art and craft of writing.

The origins of the program, a story in itself, begins in 2002 with a five-person team of designers including current director Wayne Ude. They faced the kind of hurdles that keep innovative programs like NILA’s from ever taking off. “I faced mountains of blankety-blank paperwork,” he recalled. But with a doggedness not always typical of the visionary, Ude methodically won the necessary approvals from state, federal, and agency authorities for his hybrid program—part online, part on-the-ground.

“As of this residency’s graduation on August 9th, 52 alumni will have completed the program,” Ude said. “We’re about as large as we ever intend to be.”

Despite its growth, the program has managed to keep a front-and-center focus on a community in which established and aspiring writers encourage and mentor each other.

Nowhere is this more evident than the evening readings held in the Inn’s dining room. Against a backdrop of old mirrors hanging on the wall, students—both new, continuing and about to graduate—read their poetry, fiction, and nonfiction to their peers in an atmosphere of delight, pride, and encouragement—the kind shared by working artisans devoted to their craft. It’s further testament to the program that many graduating students remain in the fold, volunteering their time and skills to improve NILA—expanding social media, refining information technology, spreading the word. In NILA’s case, there are no better ambassadors than the graduates themselves.

Fiction author Doyce Testerman is one such ambassador. An instructional designer in academia and a working writer, Testerman was initially skeptical. “The focus of most MFA programs seems to be turning out teachers of writing,” he observed. “I wanted something focused on living as a writer.” Testerman is exactly the sort of person for whom the program is designed: those with busy lives, families, jobs. Before enrolling, he weighed the sacrifices. “In order to attend the residencies, I’d have to chew up all my vacation time, leave my wife and three kids for periods. Why? My agent and publisher didn’t care if I had an MFA.”

After enrolling in a nine-day residency to sample what NILA had to offer, Testerman signed on. “I knew I would become a better writer. The faculty and students make me want to try harder. When I see what students and grads bring to the readings, I step up my game to match.” The 43-year-old Denver-based author is due to graduate next August.

Fantasy writer Nicole J. Persun is four days into the MFA program. A published writer, the 20-year-old native of Port Townsend was introduced to Wayne Ude five years ago by her father, who is also a writer. “I started my first novel at the age of 13,” she recalled. “When I was very young, my father made up bedtime stories with me.” In fact, Persun’s final project for her bachelor’s degree was a comparison of actual events in the life of her father, Terry Persun, and events in the fictional lives of his characters. Because NILA is in her own Northwest backyard, Persun hesitated before applying. Her association with Ude helped tip the scales. “Wayne has seen my development as a writer,” she said. Affordability was also a factor. “I decided not to go $100,000 into debt for a two-year degree.” Active in several writers’ associations as a board member and/or instructor, Persun had ample opportunity to compare MFA programs, both on paper and through word of mouth, before settling on NILA. “It was my first and foremost choice,” she said.

Former cop Craig Anderson is the first veteran to be enrolled in the program. After 26 years in the military, Anderson enrolled in Eastern Washington University to develop his writing skills. Upon submitting a short story and a chapter from his novel-in-progress (“Alone Against the Dead” featuring a retired military cop as protagonist), Anderson was accepted by NILA. Together with Ude, Anderson had to climb the “mountains of blankety-blank paperwork” to ensure the 9-11 GI Bill would cover his tuition. But he considers it well worth his time. “I’m a native of Spokane. I don’t have to move, I don’t have to uproot my life. This program works for working people.” After 15 years in public relations, 55-year-old Carla Sameth knows the power of image and the potency of story. Teaching others to write memoir has reinforced that knowledge. “For years I’ve been helping other people tell their stories; now I want to tell my own,” she said of her reasons for enrolling in NILA’s MFA program. A resident of California, Sameth plans to write about her own experiences as well as continue to help others—community college students, youth, incarcerated populations—write about theirs.

Although Jim Gearhart, 48, is a student in the MFA program, he is also about to become editor-in-chief of NILA’s biannual magazine, “Soundings Review.” Like Testerman, Gearhart “test drove” the program by enrolling in a residency in the summer of 2012, hoping to learn more about his chosen genres: fantasy, science fiction, nonfiction and essay. “I’d taken online courses and felt there was something missing,” he recalls. “Here at the NILA residency, the morning workshop is a turbo-charged writing group.” He also likes the opportunity NILA provides for students to continue to react to each other’s work online after the residency has ended.

“The atmosphere here is incredibly supportive,” commented Gearhart. “There’s no feeling of competition. You learn from your fellow students. We’re in it together.”

Gearhart’s sentiments are widely shared. “The people involved in NILA are a large quirky family,” added Testerman. “We keep track of each other, of our personal bogeymen.” It’s just as Molly Gloss said: these people could only have written these words in this setting. All together, at the Captain Whidbey Inn, in early August 2014.

One can’t help but feel that the ghost drifting up and down the twisted staircases of “Whid Isle Inn” would agree.

For more information about the MFA program, NILA’s individual residencies, or the October Whidbey Island Writers Conference visit nila.edu. To learn more about the writers mentioned in this article, visit their individual websites.

(All photos of the Captain Whidbey Inn by Martha McCartney)

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Dianna MacLeod received her journalism degree from the University of Michigan and is an alumnae of Hedgebrook writing retreat for women. Under the critical eye of her Whidbey Island writing group, she hopes to complete her novel, “Sainted,” in 2015.

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August 13, 2014
Much Ado About Something: Island Shakespeare Festival begins Fifth Season

BY DIANNA MACLEOD
Whidbey Life Magazine Contributor
July 23, 2014

Poster for “Taming of the Shrew”

Although Shakespeare considered all the world to be a stage, one wonders how he would have felt sitting on a bale of hay inside a circus tent watching his play, “The Taming of the Shrew,” performed in a Wild West setting.

Island Shakespeare Festival’s artistic director Rose Woods believes he would have appreciated the performance. She believes it so completely that she has spent much of the last five years producing classical theatre on Whidbey Island: scouting locations; assembling actors, directors, and musicians; working with set designers, graphic artists and stagehands. Her mission has been to bring Shakespeare’s comedies, tragedies and histories to the public. Free.

The “free” part of Island Shakespeare Festival (ISF) wasn’t entirely her own idea; Woods borrowed the concept from the Bard himself. In the 1600’s, the writing and production of Shakespeare’s plays were funded by patrons and performed free to members of the public, known as “groundlings.” Groundlings, moved by the poetry and humor of the entertainment, made small contributions—the Elizabethan version of “pass the hat.” No one was denied entrance to the theatre, just as no one is denied entrance to the orange-and-white striped Big Top ISF now calls home.

“Kate” (Melanie Lowey) photo by Rose Woods

After four previous years of producing Shakespeare—first in a woodsy glade on property owned by the Hull family and now in an open field in Langley—Rose Woods is seeing her original vision expanding by leaps and bounds. The acquisition of a tent last year marked the first time ISF had four walls and a roof, albeit canvas. This year the company has added guest directors and guest artists, as well as expanding its training component. According to Education Director Eric Mulholland, “We invest a lot in developing the skills—voice, movement, acting technique—of our company members. Skilled actors benefit the whole community. And there’s a real interest in theatre among our island youth.”

Accordingly, ISF offers a “classic conservatory for young adults” that consists of three weeks of training followed by a production. Mulholland is gratified by the way young people “lean into Shakespeare, into classical language, in a fresh way.”

A seasoned actor himself, Mulholland seeks to pass along certain values: solid technique, rigorous work ethic, an open mind, generosity of spirit, a willingness to connect with others and receptivity to feedback. “I want to help these young actors develop an internal sense of knowing for themselves when they’ve done their best work,” he said.

“Petruchio” (Michael Morgan) photo by Rose Woods

Mulholland had a chance to see those values in action during ISF’s production of “The Importance of Being Ernest,” which starred conservatory students. “That particular play provided the right amount of challenge,” he said. “It’s a comedy of manners that young people can enjoy; they can relate to the characters.”

“Madcap creatives” is how local business owner Debra Campbell describes the recently-formed ISF board. “They are the most joyous, passionate, creative people I have ever had the pleasure of working with.” Campbell, who studied drama as an undergraduate, lost touch with the theatre world during the years she oversaw mergers in the telecommunications industry. “I yearned to reconnect with a creative community; the ‘can do’ attitude of this board, their creative genius, is just what I’d been wanting.”

Composer Matthew Bell at the piano with David Locke on accordion and Cesar Perez Rosas on washboard (photo by Rose Woods)

Rene Neff, owner of Langley’s Brackenwood Gallery, joined the board because of her feeling of connection to ISF productions. “The first time I saw these actors perform Shakespeare, I understood the play in a new way. And I was delighted at seeing our local young people performing. As a director, Rose Woods knows how to make Shakespeare come alive.”

According to Neff, the festival brings an added benefit—tourism revenue. “Research shows that Shakespearian theatre improves the economic base of a community,” she said. Board member Peggy Juve estimates that the 22 repertory performances over six weekends, along with three performances by the young adult conservatory, will draw an audience of 4,000 people.

Actor and founding ISF member Morgan Bondelid has fond memories of the company’s origins performing Shakespeare in the forest. “We hung sheets to make dressing rooms. We cleared paths for audiences to reach the amphitheatre. We built the stage. The light was otherworldly.” But she recognizes that ISF’s growth has meant her growth as an actor; over the years, she’s received voice coaching and training in stage combat. Although the slapdash nature of the early years has been tempered by increased advance planning, Bondelid sees the change as beneficial. “This season’s shows have been cast for months and that extra time has allowed me to research my character. Since I’ve never played a character who was a real person, I have the time to compare Shakespeare’s interpretation to historical accounts.” But Bondelid, who doubles as the company’s graphics designer, insists that some things haven’t changed. A spirit of hands-on, all-for-one-and-one-for-all, still prevails.

Sweet Bianca (Ahna Dunn Wilder) and her suitor, Lucentio (Andrew Pearce) photo by Rose Woods

Rose Woods agrees. “Despite various feelings, moods, styles and visions, everyone has to work together and take care of one another. In some ways a theatre ensemble is similar to a small community, similar to our island. Respect, and all working mindfully toward the same goal, helps immeasurably.”

Woods has reserved plenty of hay bales for all the groundlings she will be welcoming into the Big Top over the next few weeks. And she hopes that, when the hat is passed, they will give what they can afford—no more and no less—to keep the dream of island Shakespeare alive and thriving into Season Six and beyond.

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The ISF season officially opens with “The Taming of the Shrew” at 5 p.m. on Saturday, July 26 and Sunday, July 27 in the carousel striped tent at 723 Camano Ave. in Langley. Beginning August 8 and every Friday, Saturday and Sunday thru September 7, audiences can attend “The Taming of the Shrew” and “Richard III” on alternating evenings. For information, please call 360-331-1939 or check http://www.islandshakespearefest.org/Season/Season-Calendar.html for performance schedules. Remember, admission is free.

Image at top: ISF Artistic Director Rose Woods, photographed at the Bard’s Ball by Michael Stadler

Dianna MacLeod studied playwriting with the former dramaturg at Seattle’s Intiman Theatre. Her plays have been produced by The Women’s Theatre, included in the New City Playwrights Festival, and performed by students of the Yale School of Drama. An alum of Hedgebrook, Dianna moved to the island in 2011.

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July 23, 2014
A Mighty Magical Masquerade Beneath the Wings of Henry

BY DIANNA MACLEOD
PHOTOS BY MICHAEL STADLER
Whidbey Island Magazine Contributor
July 16, 2014

— A winged muse on stilts.

— Sonnets delivered in dulcet tones.

“Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds…”

— Bawdy insults issued from the mouth of a villain.

“Apish bald-pated abomination!”

“Wanton, motley-minded horn-beast!

— Dozens of Venetian masks awaiting revelers to animate them.

— A bewitching, bejeweled seer offering to make sense of your past and advise you on your future.

— Period music played by costumed musicians.

All this, and more, beneath the orange-and-white stripes of a tent named Henry.

So it was—at Island Shakespeare Festival’s Bard’s Ball on July 13 where supporters gathered to raise funds to assist ISF in mounting its fifth, and most ambitious, season to include: two plays in repertory, theatre training for young adults (and their very own production), guest directors and off-island actors in residence.

What would the Bard himself say about the delightful deception known as masquerade?

“God has given you one face, and you make yourself another.”

Or perhaps,

“We know what we are, but know not what we may be.”

If you missed the Bard’s Ball, be sure to join Island Shakespeare Festival for its upcoming season.

Or risk accusation, oh motley-minded horn beast.

“The Importance of Being Earnest” by Oscar Wilde continues its run Thursday, July 17 and Friday, July 18 in the carousel-striped tent at 723 Camano Ave. in Langley at 5 p.m. This is the first production of the newly formed Classic Conservatory for Young Adults. Admission is free, with a pass-the-hat donation after each performance that supports the program.

The ISF season officially opens with a Wild West treatment of “The Taming of the Shrew” on July 26 at 5 p.m. in the carousel striped tent at 723 Camano Ave. in Langley. Beginning August 8 and every Friday, Saturday and Sunday thru September 7, audiences can take advantage of “The Taming of the Shrew” and “Richard III.” For information, please call 360-331-1939 or check www.islandshakespearefest.org for performance schedules. Admission is free.

Image at top: Cast member Andrew Yabroff

Siobhan Wright on stilts with musician Kimmer Morris

Masked reveler

Morgan Bondelid performing an Elizabethan song accompanied by Troy Chapman playing a baroque guitar

Artistic and theatre director Rose Woods

Cast Member Bristol Branson and George Henny, King of the Ball

Musicians Debbie Zick and Kimmer Morris

Actor Ahna Dunn-Wilder and Artistic Director Rose Woods

Tarot card reader and ISF board member Kris McRae

Masks Awaiting Revelers

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July 16, 2014
Did You Miss this Year’s ‘Whidbey Island Garden Tour’?

BY DIANNA MacLEOD
PHOTOS BY DAVID WELTON
Whidbey Life Magazine Contributors
July 2, 2014

On the last Saturday of June, more than 800 people toured five “patches of paradise” during the Whidbey Island Garden Tour.

The event requires a full year of planning by the Garden Tour board and an entire day of participation by the 120 volunteers serving as parkers, greeters and docents. Along with the board and phalanx of volunteers, the garden tour has both friends and patrons—local businesses and individuals who regularly pledge their expertise and financial support.

The first tour in 1995 was organized by campaigners attempting to save Saratoga Woods; to this day, the proceeds of the garden tour are donated to local charities.

“We try for a variety of gardens to put on display, from postage stamp to grand, new to mature, sun to shade,” said WIGT President Penny Harger. “Over the years we’ve acquired all the gear needed for event parking, so we lend it out to the Maxwelton Fourth of July Parade and the Chicken Coop Tour. It’s all about community!”

If you missed the tour, here’s your chance to walk down the garden path—albeit virtual. After you’ve taken the tour, mark your calendar for next year’s event. For more information, visit www.wigt.org or call 360-321-4191.

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Cynthia Tilkin

The breathtaking views of Saratoga Passage from “Bluff Bliss” are enhanced by tall trees, raised beds and sunny stretches of lawn. Native vegetation, artfully pruned by owner Cynthia Tilkin, is viewed against a backdrop of stone walls, benches and ponds. The garden is designed with an eye to outdoor entertaining and quiet contemplation.

Tom and Robin Callison

The in-town garden of Tom and Robin Callison is a backyard getaway that displays an array of plant material suitable for the small-scale cottage garden. The owners’ love of art and poetry is evident in the sculpture and plaques—including the lyrics to John Lennon’s “Imagine”—found in the garden.

Carol Livers

Nestled deep in the forest, the garden of Carol Livers invites exploration. The owner, originally from Britain, flies the Union Jack flag above her beautifully cultivated “English Idyll.” The garden surrounds a house that is equally detailed and colorful.

John and Margi Bachert

By taking advantage of the natural kettle formations created thousands of years ago, owners John and Margi Bachert have designed a garden that offers numerous vistas. Winding paths lead from one garden room to another: the serene philosopher’s garden, a hillside of flowers, vegetable garden, a hedge of roses. Contemporary and classical art abound.

Debra and Colin Campbell

Overlooking Saratoga Passage, “Eagle Sanctuary” enjoys sweeping views of Camano Island, Mount Baker and the Cascades. Owners Debra and Colin Campbell have created paths that wind through stands of rhododendrons, native shrubs, and shade-loving plants. The many sculptures found throughout the garden add to the feeling of drama created by the owners’ contemporary house.

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July 2, 2014
Flashes of Light from Filmmaker Chris Korrow

BY DIANNA MACLEOD
Whidbey Life Magazine contributor
June 18, 2014

“Knowledge does not come to us in details, but in flashes of light from heaven,” said Henry David Thoreau, one of America’s most eloquent advocates for the natural world and the many ways it benefits human beings.

Chris Korrow is familiar with such flashes; one of them transformed his life.

“I was 28 years old when I went into the forest and simply stopped. I sat still. In that stillness I realized that everything I’d based my life on was illusionary: my photography business, my preconceived ideas of how to live, my scripted existence. All of it.”

Chris at Cascade Pass (photo by Gabbi Korrow)

Korrow walked away from his business, gave away his goods and money, stripped down to the bare necessities. He embarked on a bike trip around the country, a journey that marked the beginning of what would become a life-long quest to reunite human beings with nature. During his 6,000-mile trip, he found a freedom borne of the discovery that “in nature, there’s no debt, no superiority, no judgment. In nature, you are brought into the basic qualities of who and what you are.”

Perhaps without knowing it, Korrow followed a trajectory similar to Thoreau’s, who famously commented in 1854: “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”

That first flash of enlightenment led Korrow, over the next 27 years, to write books (“The Organic Bug Book,” “The 30-Square Foot Garden,” “A Guide for Observing Nature,” “Awakening to Nature”), develop a series of lectures and workshops for adults and children, and make two films (“Frost Flowers” and “Garden Insects.”)

It’s easy to imagine that Thoreau—a man who urged the contemplation of nature and at the same time engaged fully with life as a poet, author, philosopher, abolitionist, naturalist, surveyor, inventor and historian—would heartily approve. And it’s easy to see why Korrow chose Thoreau—his life and his writings—as the central organizing principle of his latest film, “Dancing with Thoreau.”

Gabbi Korrow celebrating Cascade Pass (photo by Chris Korrow)

“In my life, I try to echo many of things Thoreau wrote and spoke about: simplicity, timelessness, calculating the true cost of material things that rob us of our lives. When we connect with nature in a way that shows us we’re part of the whole, our lives change. We become more community minded, eat better, often start a garden, simplify our lives and become less materialistic.”

In addition to his work as a photographer, writer, speaker and filmmaker, Korrow cultivates a third of an acre near Langley. “A good farmer connected to nature becomes a soil scientist, an inventor, a promoter, a marketer…and on top of it all has one of the most physically demanding jobs in our society. You see adaptability in farmers; they have a problem, they come up with a solution.”

[Thoreau himself possessed a “Yankee” love of practical detail. He grew up in a modest New England family. His father was a pencil maker. As an adult, Thoreau discovered a way to improve upon the pencil by binding graphite with clay.]

According to Korrow, the capacity for creativity is enhanced by a connection to nature. Richard Louv, interviewed in the film, refers to this enhanced capacity as “Vitamin N.”

Korrow’s affinity for farming is evident in the photos he chose to include in the film. Freshly picked tomatoes cradled in dirt-stained hands. A dewy strawberry. A saucer of seeds of compelling colors, unique shapes, and implicit promise. A row of leafy kale plants that appear both invincible and delicate.

Porcupine North Cascades (photo by Chris Korrow)

Indeed, Korrow’s keen visual sense and photographer’s sensibility extend to the stars—literally. As well as the universe above, he shows us translucent quartz grains scattered around a commonplace dime, the patterns left by the sea on beach sand, the beauty of speckled stones in a heap.

“Dancing with Thoreau” is a work of art that honors the artful in nature. Korrow’s use of still photos, interviews, quotations and moving images provide a means by which to enter the timelessness he feels is essential to a fulfilled and meaningful life.

Night Camp, Smoky Mountains (photo by Chris Korrow)

If knowledge comes to us in flashes of light from heaven, as Thoreau suspected, Chris Korrow’s film has to be a bright—and wondrously brilliant—series of flashes.

“Dancing with Thoreau” can be seen at Langley’s Clyde Theatre on Sunday, June 22 at 2:00 PM. To view the trailer and to find out more about how to support the film, visit http://breathedeepproductions.com.

Poster for the Film “Dancing with Thoreau”

Image at top: Chris Korrow (photo by Steve Shaffer KET PBS)

Dianna MacLeod holds a degree in journalism and environmental advocacy. The earth has been a good friend to her.

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June 18, 2014
An Actor in Our Town | Phil Jordan

BY DIANNA MACLEOD
Whidbey Life Magazine contributor
June 11, 2014

“When you put on a good show, everyone remembers it—creative team, actors, audience. ‘Our Town’ is a good show,” said Phil Jordan (a.k.a. Doc Gibbs in WICA’s current production of Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town” running through Saturday, June 21).

This deceptively simple play is no less than a love letter to small-town life. Written in 1938, the playwright evokes an earlier time, yet never lapses into sentimentality. Wilder’s love for Main Street USA does not go unrequited; although the playwright died in 1975, “Our Town” is performed somewhere in America at least once a day every day.

Jordan is extraordinarily pleased to be part of the performance here on Whidbey Island.

Phil Jordan (photo courtesy of the subject)

Schooled in creative dramatics as a child, Jordan appeared in several productions at Seattle’s Roosevelt High before majoring in acting at the University of Montana. Discouraged by the relentless self-promotion required in the acting profession, he took a hiatus that lasted 20 years. “I felt I’d hit a wall artistically.”

Moving to Clinton in 2008 ended his self-imposed exile from the theatre world. “When I arrived here, I immediately auditioned. I jumped in with both feet.” The welcome he received from the island theatre community caused Jordan to dust off his directing skills. After appearing in several local productions, Jordan decided to try directing “Blythe Spirit,” WICA’s first play of the current season.

“I always wanted to direct,” commented Jordan. “Actors have an understanding of how they fit in the play, but it’s hard for an actor to get the bigger picture.”

Directing, Jordan rediscovered, came with its own particular challenges. “Theatre is a collaborative art. Theatre is story telling. When several people pull in several directions, things can go awry. The director’s job is to get everyone telling the same story.”

Jordan credits Deana Duncan, WICA’s Programming and Production Director, with helping him ease back into directing. “As a director, you try to understand what makes the story tick. You try to communicate your vision of the story to the creative team—set, lighting, and costume designers.” According to Jordan, that’s just the beginning. “The creative team has its vision gelled before the actors walk through the door—bringing their own talents and personalities to the story.”

The differences between acting and directing don’t stop there.

“As an actor, you don’t direct other actors, because you’re working hard to understand your own character, to comprehend a life that isn’t your life. In most productions, a deep camaraderie develops between the actors; during rehearsals, you are putting yourself out there for everyone to see. By definition, the director stands outside that.”

No matter who does what, mounting a play is an enormous act of trust by everyone involved.

“We all go through life seeking special, intimate relationships. Theatre demands you go there faster,” observed Jordan.

For the 26-member cast of ‘Our Town’—ranging from the very young to the fairly old—those relationships have proven to be particularly rich. Perhaps quixotically, the ensemble has become its very own small town, due in part to director Tim Rarick’s sensitive interpretation and palpable love for the characters, the setting, the story.

It was Rarick who converted Jordan to the play.

“I read it when I was young, and I hated it. I thought it was oversimplified and silly,” Jordan recalls. “Now, I find it exceptionally well written and thoughtful. Tim brought me back to it. It’s a play that holds the specific and the universal at the same time. It’s a play for people who have been alive for a while.”

Poster for WICA’s “Our Town”

In WICA’s production of “Our Town,” there is no curtain. There are few props. There is barely a set. But there is a moon. Featured prominently in “Our Town’s” publicity and production, the moon has a starring role in the sky and on the stage. Rounded, it rises over Georgia Gerber’s sculpture of boy and dog on the Langley waterfront. Apricot tinged, it hovers over the small-town folks who populate Thornton Wilder’s imagination. Eternal and luminous, it looks down on birth, on death, on the moments in between.

And “Our Town” looks right back.

Dianna MacLeod studied playwriting with the former dramaturg at Seattle’s Intiman Theatre. Her plays have been produced by The Women’s Theatre, included in the New City Playwrights Festival and performed by students of the Yale School of Drama. An alum of Hedgebrook, Dianna moved to the island in 2011.

Image at top: Phil Jordan as Doc Gibbs in Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town” at Whidbey Island Center for the Arts. (photo by Tyler Raymond)

Visit WICA’s webpage for further details about WICA’s production of “Our Town.” For online purchase of tickets, visit Purchase Tickets Online.

NOTE: At the request of director Tim Rarick, there will be NO late seating for this production; please arrive by 7:15 to ensure your entrance into the theatre! The play runs approximately two hours, including two intermissions. Patrons who arrive late will be seated in front of the television screen to watch in the lobby until the next intermission begins.

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June 11, 2014
Vortext in Context: Writers Gather for the Hedgebrook Experience

BY DIANNA MACLEOD
Whidbey Life Magazine contributor
June 4, 2014

I sat beneath the vaulted ceiling of the Whidbey Institute’s Thomas Berry Hall, staring at the schedule for Hedgebrook’s third annual “Vortext” event, a group of women convening to discuss the art and craft of writing. The schedule was ambitious, each of the three days containing keynotes speeches, panel discussions, workshops, open mics and receptions—all held in a context of “radical hospitality” designed to offer writers the kind of nurturance that supports creativity.

Around me, the 42 participants were finding seats for the first keynote of the first morning. While some writers met each other for the first time and others reunited after a year’s separation, I busily nursed a private worry: how to summarize Vortext for Whidbey Life Magazine readers. As a reporter, I was daunted. As a creative writer, I was doubly daunted.

I confided my anxiety to Hedgebrook founder Nancy Nordhoff.

“How can I possibly do justice to Vortext? Distill the wisdom and advice of so many accomplished authors? Convey the sense of camaraderie? Find and describe the most important themes? All in less than a thousand words?”

“Simple,” Nordhoff said in her plain-spoken, river-deep way.

“Simple?” I replied.

“Fun. Power. Community. Those are the themes.” She shrugged, as if it really was simple.

Nordhoff has a talent for making the impossible seem possible and, using a few well-chosen words, she undaunted me.

Fun. Power. Community. What did the six keynote speakers have to say about those themes? And how did the setting and staff reinforce them? Over the next three days, I would find out.

Writers Elizabeth George and Jane Hamilton talking with the audience at Vortext 2014 (photo by Bre LeBeuf)

In Search of Fun

As well as writing riveting books (“A Map of the World,” “The Book of Ruth”), Jane Hamilton happens to possess a riotous sense of humor. Using raucous voices and rollicking gestures, she described a search for her Scottish roots that began at the age of 21 when she apprenticed herself to a matronly Scottish weaver with supremely rigorous standards. Hamilton—lonely and isolated in a Highland croft—spent the first weeks scraping lichen off rocks to color the authentic dyes used by the taciturn weaver. While describing her own loneliness and sense of displacement, Hamilton turned Whidbey Institute’s stage into a version of Scotland, adeptly recreating the wind-swept nature of the place, the wind-swept nature of the people and what she discovered about her own wind-swept self. In front of her audience, Hamilton became what every writer aims to be—a storyteller evoking a time, a place and a purpose—while being highly entertaining, original and authentic.

Karen Joy Fowler (“We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves,” “The Jane Austen Book Club”) made a decision to be a writer on her 30th birthday, knowing that making her work public would expose her to criticism. She credits much of what she knows about writing to her long-standing membership in a writing group: “I learned how to read, I learned how to critique, and eventually I was able to apply those things to my own writing.” True to her middle name, she spoke about the importance of joy in the writing process. “When you become a writer, there are many things that can make you not like it. If you’re not taking joy in it, figure out what you need to do to restore joy and do it.” Fowler’s deadpan delivery of comic lines, one after another, caused her audience to erupt in continuous laughter. “Of all the ways I have seen writers fail, not writing is at the top.”

In Search of Power

When petite powerhouse Elizabeth George (the Inspector Lynley series) took the stage, she began by describing her upbringing “during a time when the Nazi holocaust was not too far behind us and nuclear peril not too far ahead.” Author of 18 popular crime novels, George is expert at writing about the darker aspects of human nature, finding her subject matter deep in the shadowy realms of the human psyche.

Writers Elizabeth George and Jane Hamilton (photo by Bre LeBeuf)

Subjected to a sin-obsessed religion and separated from an exuberant extended family, George began writing as a way to cope with it all as well as to escape the “expectations of sweetness” typical for a young girl. It was in writing she discovered a “lightness of spirit”—and subsequently parlayed her personal shadows into an art form that continues to fascinate her many fans. “We do not escape our past so much as learn to understand it—and burst from it renewed.”

Ruth Ozeki (“A Tale for the Time Being,” “My Year of Meats”) counsels writers to be patient while they struggle to bring forth their work. “Practicing patience is one of the most revolutionary things you can do.” However, she also identifies impatience as the force that “gets books written.” According to Ozeki, “the tension of opposites is profoundly generative.” Ozeki described her love/hate relationship to her recent award-winning book: “The more I wrote, the more confused I became. The more I struggled, the worse it got.” She put the manuscript aside several times, but always picked it up again. The story-she-couldn’t-write almost drove her to give up writing novels altogether. A residency at Hedgebrook provided her with what she needed to achieve clarity and finish the book.

In Search of Community

Gail Tsukiyama (“Women of the Silk,” “The Language of Threads”) posed the question of what it means to be successful as a writer. “For most writers, success equals solvency.” For those who labor in solitude for years at a time, traditional notions of success are often disempowering. Tsukiyama measures success for herself by the yardstick of certain moments: holding her first published book in her hands, giving a reading of her second book and spotting her high school teachers in the second row.

Audience for the first keynote speeches at Vortext 2014 (photo by Bre LeBeuf)

To Tsukiyama, success is “freedom from expectations.” She finds “grit” to be the greatest predictor of success. To illustrate the integrity and wisdom in stepping outside the fray, she shared a parable about a Japanese painter: he declines to climb the mountain; only by standing at its base can he truly see it.

Carole DeSanti (“The Unruly Passions of Eugenie R.”) is a champion of women’s fiction in the world of publishing. Unpublished writers are always looking for tips on how to navigate the publishing industry, and this audience leaned in close to gather DeSanti’s wisdom. “Questions about the publishing industry are unanswerable. It’s not a business where rules work very well, and they might or might not apply to you or your project.”

DeSanti’s observation that “our very questions are based in our own inner dramas, personal mythologies and ideas about having authority conferred upon us” had many nodding in agreement. DeSanti traced the history of an industry that does not seem especially woman friendly. “Our current definition of copyright has never been a perfect fit for women.” She encouraged the unpublished authors in the audience to “think in terms of friendships and affiliations more than platforms and marketing plans.” Her final words brought the audience to their feet: “Remember that the publishing world is Oz; it is not home. “This is home.”

Three days of Vortexting—during which writers increased their sense of power, enlarged their sense of community and shared their sense of humor—was, indeed, far too deep and rich to summarize in one thousand, or one hundred thousand, words.

I counted myself one lucky girl reporter to have encountered Nancy Nordhoff when I did.

Day One lunch prepared by the Hedgebrook chefs (photo by Bre LeBeuf)

To learn more about Vortext and Hedgebrook visit Hedgebrook.org.
To find recipes for the meals served at Vortext, order the Hedgebrook cookbook.
For a complete list of works by each author, please visit their respective websites.

Photo at top: Writers Elizabeth George and Jane Hamilton at Vortext 2014 (photo by Bre LeBeuf)

Dianna MacLeod holds a degree in journalism from the University of Michigan. An alumna of Hedgebrook, she moved to the island in October of 2011 to complete a novel—and never left.

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WLM stories and blogs are copyrighted and all rights are reserved. Linking is permitted. To request permission to use or reprint content from this site, email info@whidbeylifemagazine.org.

June 4, 2014
Guess What’s Coming to Dinner!

BY DIANNA MACLEOD
Whidbey Life Magazine contributor
May 28, 2014

Two different things inspired me while pointing me in the same direction.

The first was local author Vicki Robin’s experiment to survive on foods grown close to home. She committed herself to part of a year of eating mostly local food. Displaying her usual creativity and tenacity, she wrote up the experiment and sold it to a publisher, resulting in the book “Blessing the Hands that Feed Us.”

Second source of inspiration: a PBS program called “Can Eating Insects Save the World?” In graphic detail and gory color, folks are shown feasting on water bugs, grasshoppers, and tarantulas. (Yes, you read that right.) Given the tonnage of insects per human being, eating insects might just be the solution to world hunger. After all, insects are high in protein, mature rapidly, consume little energy (think cricket versus cow), and are plentiful. (At times, alarmingly so.)

Inspired and curious—we all know that’s a dangerous combination—I asked myself the question: could I find enough to eat, here in my own island backyard, to sustain me? Not for a year. Not even for a day. Just for a single meal. One dinner.

I decided to find out.

And it was, after all, dinnertime.

My only piece of foraging gear consisted of a Tupperware container with a snugly-fitting lid. Thus equipped, I ventured out into the mist descending on Saratoga Road.

The pickings were not slim.

They were slimy.

Within the first few minutes of walking, I noticed three kinds of slugs making their way out of the nettles and onto the shoulder of the road. (I happen to know that nettles are indeed edible but sting fiercely when picked, and I had brought no gloves.)

The first kind of slug I encountered was big and brown with an orange rim around its fleshy parts (which is all of it). Big Brown seemed to crawl in patterns, leaving a trail that glistened in the twilight and, to my eye, spelled out assorted messages: “I am Delicious!” and “Bursting with Flavor” and “Eat Here!”

“Long Snot” (photo by Jan Shannon)

I resisted Big Brown’s blatant advertisement in favor of a more subtle slug just ahead—a long, bilious looking creature the color of, well, snot. I was about to pluck Long Snot from the pavement and deposit it in my Tupperware when I saw, further on, a third slug that really got me retching…er, salivating. It was shiny black and resembled nothing so much as a piece of writhing licorice.

“Writhing Licorice” (photo by Jan Shannon)

While I stood deliberating whether I wanted to become part of a local food movement, all around me local food was moving, the road crisscrossed with slugs—as many as my empty stomach could stomach.

As I walked on, observing these meals-under-wheels, I noticed another critter in plentitude. Turns out my first-time search for local food had coincided with a massive hatch of—ta da!—tent caterpillars. These little orange and black goodies were humping along the road at remarkable speeds, making the slugs look…well, sluggish.

Still I demurred.

Because…because…because…prior to plundering nature’s bounty, I should have a plan for preparing my slugs and caterpillars. A recipe for these roadside hors d’oeuvres. An idea of how to cook these creepy crawlies.

I was desperately hoping I would have no idea whatsoever.

I immediately thought of oysters.

I love oysters. More particularly, oyster burgers. And what is the slug if not a kind of land oyster? Indeed, the slug is a terrestrial gastropod mollusk. “Gastro” as in “gastronomy.” “Gastro” as in the art or science of good eating.

I felt encouraged. Inspired. Along with Vicki Robin, I, too, could be creative in my quest for local food.

I could prepare the slugs—Big Browns, Long Snots, Writhing Licorices—the same way I prepare oysters for burgers: dip the slugs in an egg batter, dredge them in flour seasoned with pepper and salt, fry them in a skillet.

And the caterpillars? Spread out on a cookie sheet, baked in the oven, could they pass as onion morsels—with fur?

I envisioned a slug burger—hold the mucus—with a side of crispy caterpillars. Served with a stinging nettle salad.

Yum.

I was bending down to pick my first caterpillar off the pavement when I realized I had no clue whether the thing was safe to eat. Whether it was safe to eat any of the three varieties of slugs sliming up the road with their assorted messages: “We Dare You!” and “Yankee, Go Home!” and “Coward!”

The ubiquitous tent caterpillar (photo by Jan Shannon)

Then and there, I realized I would have to put my experiment on hold, at least for as long as it took me to hoof home and check the internet. Surely it would tell which bugs were safe to eat. Why else is it called the net? The web?

I returned home with an empty Tupperware container. Not so much as a nettle leaf inside, the lid never even lifted.

With the small amount of enthusiasm left to me, I turned on my computer. Would slugs slime my insides? Would tent caterpillars spin cocoons in my gastrointestinals? Once I had answers, I would go back out there. I still had enough time to hit the road, enough light to glean by.

But my server was down.

Whew! No serving tonight.

I blessed the technical failure as I made myself a sandwich (cheese from foreign lands, salami from a factory farm, bread from a faraway oven). As I chowed down, I recalled that the PBS commentator had mentioned—more than once—that bugs are an acquired taste. Especially tarantulas. (He should’ve added tent caterpillars and slugs to the list.)

Devouring my nonlocal, delicious sandwich, I wondered if I’d be writing my own book about my own experiment. What would I call it? “The Squeamish Scavenger”? “Stooping Low for Local”? “The Quarter-Mile Diet”?

Until whatever-it’s-called hits the shelves…please…nobody tell Vicki Robin about this.

Dianna MacLeod holds a degree in journalism from the University of Michigan. An alumna of Hedgebrook, she moved to the island in October of 2011 to complete a novel—and never left.

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May 28, 2014
Spring in a Sculptor’s Garden: Georgia Gerber Dances with Rabbits

BY DIANNA MACLEOD
Whidbey Life Magazine Contributor
May 21, 2014

Only a gardener with a certain amount of whimsy would christen a shady corner of her garden “The Dancing Rabbit Glen.” Although sculptor Georgia Gerber possesses more than her share of whimsy, she describes her gardening style as “ruthless.”

“I’m not afraid to whack something out of the garden.”

Most of us would agree that a ten-acre homestead demands a certain amount of ruthlessness—and a whole lot of whacking.

Rabbits tiptoe through the tulips (photo by David Welton)

Happy as a pig in…chips (photo by David Welton)

Gerber and her husband Randy Hudson moved to Whidbey Island in 1982, intent on building a house, an artist’s studio and a foundry for casting bronze sculptures. Once the couple had cleared an acre of the alder trees that dominated the property, they began to construct their rural retreat. Eventually they added more outbuildings, including a stable for Gerber’s horse (and a pony to keep the horse company). The surrounding garden—broad, sweeping swaths of plants that flow like a river—evolved slowly and in a way some gardeners would consider haphazard.

“I didn’t plan it on paper,” Gerber recalled. “Rather, I looked out each window of the house and made decisions based on what I wanted to see.”

Perhaps this lack of advance planning isn’t surprising coming from someone with a heightened ability to visualize in three dimensions. When beginning a new sculpture—regardless of its scale—Gerber seldom draws or makes models. Rather, she begins by working directly in the clay from an idea in her head, refining and changing until she is satisfied with the final image. The piece is then molded and continued through additional steps to create the piece in bronze. This complicated and laborious procedure involves constructing more molds made of sand, plaster and vermiculite. Metal, heated to blistering temperatures, is poured into the molds. The cooled sections are then welded together and tooled. Finally, the patina of the piece is developed with chemicals before being buffed with wax.

According to Gerber, gardening liberates her from all that.

Georgia, husband Randy Hudson and dog Arlo (photo by David Welton)

Tango in the tangle (photo by Dianna MacLeod)

“Working in bronze is physically and emotionally draining. I have to be absolutely certain about each piece. So I savor the freedom of the garden.” She also likes seeing the immediate results of wielding shears and shovel. “After a long day in the studio, I enjoy mowing the grass.” The impermanence and constant change of a garden appeals to her. “I don’t have to achieve perfection the first time—or ever.”

By placing her bronze seals, otters, ravens, and other animals among her own well-chosen and tended plants, it’s as though Gerber has found a way to unite the demanding nature of sculpture with the forgiving nature of a garden—while sneaking in a little of her signature offbeat humor. A bronze cat curls into itself—and into a stone wall. Three rabbits—the center one nearly obscured by ivy—dance beneath the lacy umbrella of a Japanese maple. A large hare lies prone at the foot of a raised bed in the artistically-fenced rabbit-proof vegetable garden. “I wouldn’t put penguins among the vegetables,” she said. “That does not seem as appropriate as another garden setting might offer.”

It seems fitting that Gerber has chosen to include a variety of shrubs in her garden beds; the shrubs provide a backdrop that holds its own against the hard materials and strong forms of her bronze pieces. “I chose low-maintenance plants in repeating patterns. In my garden, spirea is the uniting plant. And I like the way red tones of the leaf echo the red siding on the house.”

Rabbits celebrating the rhodedrondrons (photo by David Welton)

The dry stone wall favored by the cats (photo by David Welton)

Although she has included alliums and lilies among the greenery, Gerber’s garden is not one that depends heavily on flowers. The emphasis is on form, foliage, and contrasts in color, texture and leaf shape. “I adore the English perennial gardens, but maintaining them would be too much work.” With Gerber’s eye for coloration and patina, it’s not surprising that foliage would exert a primary appeal. (She creates the patina on most of her own sculptures using three basic chemicals combined in varying strengths and applied at varying temperatures. “Patinas, like gardens, can change over time. They both can have a mind of their own, and sometimes you just need to accept it.”)

As much as her garden beds create the impression of complexity and contrast, Gerber has simplified their maintenance. “I go through my beds in early spring and then do very little throughout the year. It has to be that way, because there are too many to fuss over any single one.” She utilizes landscape cloth and wood chips to minimize the tedious chore of weeding. Early on she built up the soil to improve its texture and productivity, a lesson she learned on the acreage in rural Pennsylvania where she was raised. “My father had a tractor—two tractors, in case one broke down. And he had every tractor attachment known to man!”

Sea otters swim through the shrubbery (photo by David Welton)

As a sculptor, Gerber works in “editions” of 15. Gerber and Hudson keep the last piece of most editions, and some of those are permanently placed in her garden, making it a kind of Noah’s ark of creatures large and small. When Gerber walks through her garden, it’s like walking through her own evolution as an artist.

Georgia Gerber’s sculptures are situated in outdoor settings all over the country. While some are faithful representations of the creatures of the natural world, others are fanciful: a boy riding a bear, a girl reclining against a rabbit four times her size. In those settings—beach, park, library entrance—a Gerber sculpture confers a sense of magic. In no place is that sense of wild whimsy more apparent than in the sculptor’s own garden.

To look around at cats curled up in the ivy and rabbits cavorting among the fronds, you’d never suspect that the woman responsible for this bucolic Eden was anything but bountiful and merciful.

But look again at the relationship between sculpture and plants, between hard and soft, between enduring and fleeting, and you’ll probably come to the conclusion that a little ruthlessness can be a good thing.

See more of Georgia Gerber’s sculpture in the Whidbey Life Magazine May Virtual Gallery show or visit her website: www.georgiagerber.com.

Photo at top: Weeding under the watchful eye of the hare (photo by David Welton)

Dianna MacLeod holds a degree in journalism from the University of Michigan. An alumna of Hedgebrook, she moved to the island in October of 2011 to complete a novel—and never left.

CLICK HERE to read more entertaining and informative WLM stories and blogs.

WLM stories and blogs are copyrighted and all rights are reserved. Linking is permitted. To request permission to use or reprint content from this site, email info@whidbeylifemagazine.org.

May 21, 2014
A Writer’s Foundation

BY DIANNA MACLEOD
Whidbey Life Magazine contributor
April 23, 2014

Foundational to a writer is the chance to focus on a creative project over an extended period of time. But the solitude, discipline and sheer number of hours necessary to complete a book can be daunting. All writers who try to make a living by and from their words risk rejection—by agents, publishers, and, possibly and eventually, readers. Add financial hardship to the mix, and the whole thing begins to look like an occupation for the hardy—or the foolhardy.

These are exactly the writers Elizabeth George seeks and serves.

In 1999, George created a foundation to give writers the experience of concentrating on their work unburdened by the demands of daily life. “I wanted to give them a chance to do the work that’s important to them, to see how much discipline it takes, and to see where their desire to write leads them.” She chose to direct the Foundation’s resources toward unpublished novelists and short story writers, emerging playwrights, poets (at any point in their careers), and organizations that serve disadvantaged youth.

Creating the Elizabeth George Foundation was far from easy. Administrative tasks, red tape, finding and appointing trustees, setting up guidelines and procedures—each and every one of the necessary steps took her away from writing another one of her lucrative mystery novels. And the financial cost of establishing the Foundation was considerable. Even after the newly-created wheels began to turn, the Foundation had its own requirements, primary among them screening and evaluating applications.

Still, George found—and finds—it all worthwhile.

George’s story of how she came to be published is uniquely her own. While teaching English in California public schools, she spent her summers at a desk instead of at a beach. Each summer yielded one book, and the third summer yielded the book that publishers wanted to buy—along with an advance for a subsequent, as-yet-unwritten book. The aptly-named “A Great Deliverance” allowed George to start earning her living as a writer rather than as a teacher.

Are the odds better or worse for unpublished writers today?

George thinks they’re worse.

“Back then, many more independent publishing companies existed that were willing to support not only a novel, but a novelist’s career. My editor had confidence I would develop a readership over time,” she explained. “There wasn’t as much pressure to bust out of the gate on the first novel.” The pressure on editors to find the next blockbuster has reduced the available support for unpublished and newly-published writers. Recognizing this situation, and the dearth of support, was part of George’s impetus for creating the Foundation.

“Having someone believe in your work is the thing that makes the most difference to an emerging writer,” the author said. She has the experience to back up her observation, having taught nearly a thousand students in public schools, community colleges, extension programs, conferences and privately. “When writers are relieved of financial stress, they are unburdened and able to be more productive.”

As well as assisting writers to complete major work, the Foundation has helped MFA students to complete degrees and authors to research subject matter in foreign countries. The Foundation also encourages emerging playwrights by funding scripts commissioned by California’s South Coast Repertory Theatre. In addition, the Foundation makes young people a priority because, “it’s so important to reach out and show them they can fill up their spirit in ways they have not yet explored.” Through organizations that serve youth, George seeks to bring the arts to their lives. “Art is a life-altering experience. The written word can uplift.”

Although George regrets that her foundation cannot provide financial assistance to every deserving unpublished writer, poet, or playwright, she gives struggling writers the same advice she gave herself during those years of choosing a blank page over a white-sand beach, those years of being unpublished, unpaid, and unknown.

“First and foremost, don’t give up.”

And second?

“When you’ve finished one piece, go on to the next.”

The Elizabeth George Foundation

The Elizabeth George Foundation makes artistic grants to unpublished fiction writers, emerging playwrights, poets at any stage of their careers, and organizations benefiting disadvantaged youth. To request a brochure, write to the Foundation at PO Box 1429, Langley WA 98260 or visit www.elizabethgeorgeonline.com/foundation.htm.

_____________________

Dianna MacLeod holds a degree in journalism from the University of Michigan. An alumna of Hedgebrook, she moved to the island in October of 2011 to complete a novel—and never left.

CLICK HERE to read more entertaining and informative WLM stories and blogs.

WLM stories and blogs are copyrighted and all rights are reserved. Linking is permitted. To request permission to use or reprint content from this site, email info@whidbeylifemagazine.org.

April 23, 2014