If you are like me, you know in your bones that these times call for much inspiration and fortification! So please do whatever you can to support independent, collective, human-scale publishing, and eschew the monsters of big capitalism!
Head over to the Literary Kitchen’s Underground Book Shelter to purchase fabulous, unique, humanity-expanding books.
When I take a bird’s eye view of things, it seems that the challenge right now (and maybe, too, the point) is to keep going.
Despite Everything.
To keep going despite Everything, despite the bloodshed and disappointment and pain and suffering and fear, and despite the uncertainty—which simmers somewhere, always, whether we feel it or not. Maybe some of us are feeling all that more keenly and clearly now.
There are a handful of items that help me keep body & soul going. They are accessible and mighty, and best of all, are made by real people doing their thing in this world with great love.
Radical Self-Love Body Butter is one of those items. Created by musician Anne Harris, this ambrosial body butter is thoughtfully sourced to honor Mother Earth. RSL Body Butter smells like a dream, so delicious that I have to stop myself spreading it on toast. (For real. Every day I’m tempted.) Instead I treat my skin to its soothing, illuminating wonders. My favorite is the Frankinsence-Geranium blend. I put it on my face before bed, and my skin is much happier.
Next is tea from CommuniTEA Love. The nourishing blends are made by mother-daughter team Amy and Modjeska Chavez. Sometimes tea is more than just tea. With each cup, you can inhale the love and care that goes into blending these healing plants. I took a bag of this blend to a writing retreat last spring. It happened that the teapot in the house was glass, which allowed us to watch the beautiful color emerge. Purple tea!
And our family’s food would be nothing without spices from Pepper Forrest Spice Company. When we order the paprika, I pause before discarding the packing envelope: I must first inhale its sunshine, and dream of the delicious soups, stews, and salads that will soon emerge in the kitchen.
Words from Ross Gay. Right now I’m reading The Catalogue Of Unabashed Gratitude. And I love, love, love (and often revisit) the Delights books. My daughter and I saw Ross Gay speak at Joseph Beth in Cincinnati last February. And then last summer, I was walking past a sidewalk cafe in my hometown and—could it be? yes!—there was the poet, sitting at a table, working. When I told him how much we appreciate his work, he was kind and gracious. (Total delight.)
Speaking of books (and their import when the world feels like it’s falling apart) this year’s chapbooks from the Literary Kitchen help me focus on how our impulse to share words, narrative, humor, and truth-telling matters. When I feel like writing isn’t enough, I can turn to these voices and stories. (My latest book is among them. Dear Inner Critic: a self-doubt activity book just had its second printing. So grateful for the Literary Kitchen & Wayward Writers.)
And here’s a little something to tuck into a pocket for moments when you are waiting at a medical appointment and want to be that one person who’s not staring at their phone. The East Village Inky by Ayun Halliday is the perfect antidote to digital inertia. Funny, wild, erudite, and hand-lettered by a human being. Imagine!
These tangibles help make life a little better.
When I can access even a shred of gratitude or optimism, it’s possible to imagine that we will make it through the challenges of these times. I have to trust that it’s possible.
Love, Rebecca
p.s. Maybe you’re thinking about holiday gift-giving. Good! Now you have some ideas.
Grateful to be doing a virtual reading with some wonderful people, including Ariel Gore, Avis Barlow, Abby Braithwaite, Dusty Bryndal, Rebeca Dunn-Krahn, Dot Hearn, Kathryn Lepage, Sue Mosofsky, Leah Robbins, and Juliet Waller Pruzan. Join us!
WHEN & WHERE: Wednesday, November 13, at 8pm Eastern/5pm Pacific, online.
My latest essay, “You Never Know: On Memory and Memoir and Packing Light,” is now online at Reading and Traveling. This piece is among the fabulous Dispatches from Utopia that we Wayward Writers wrote at (or after) camp in the Catskills in April 2024.
My piece centers on the gap-filled memories of the 1972 inaugural Rainbow Family Gathering, which I attended when I was five, with my young parents.
I am grateful to have had the opportunity and space (at the Mutual Aid Society in the Catskills, a new utopia forged by Adrian Shirk and others) to unearth & investigate these bits of light, and grateful to Ariel Gore and the amazing, badass campers for their curiosity, hearts, and willingness to play.
Dear Everbody, Great news! Dear Inner Critic: a self-doubt activity book is now available! Read more about why you will want this book. Learn how to buy online at Literary Kitchen, or visit the independent stores mentioned below. Love, Rebecca
You’re invited to play! Devote 30 days to creative freedom; unlock the long con of confidence; and dissolve self-doubt.
Even if you’ve been living with insecurity all your life, today can be different. This book offers a flashlight to guide you through the wilds of self-doubt. Between these covers you’ll find fun and creative strategies to quiet your negative self-talk.
You’ll write, draw, imagine, demystify—and maybe even befriend—the inner critic. You’ll set boundaries and gain room for creativity and joy. Using ingenuity and self-care, these activities let you play your way toward creative liberation.
**
Praise for DEAR INNER CRITIC: a self-doubt activity book: “Rebecca Kuder writes magical fiction and memoir with a voice so confident and agile, you’d never imagine she struggled with an inner critic. When I heard that she was not only well acquainted with self-doubt but had found ways to befriend it and play with it to the benefit of her art and happiness, I knew I wanted in on the secrets. This guide is a gift. Let Rebecca Kuder’s genius guide you to ignite your own.”
—Ariel Gore, author of The Wayward Writer (Summon Your Power to Take Back Your Story, Liberate Yourself from Capitalism, and Publish Like A Superstar)
In 2023, I took a fabulous year-long online writing class with Ariel Gore called Mavens of Mythmaking. Some highlights:
I completed a short story collection called What To Keep, for which I am seeking a publisher.
I finished a full revamp/revision of my novel The Watery Girl. This year, I will seek publication.
The memoir about my childhood home continues to emerge and evolve—in fragments and fractals—which, I am learning, is how this thing is meant to be written. Some day it will be a book.
My newest book,Dear Inner Critic: a self-doubt activity book, grew from years of renegotiating my relationship with the inner critic. Many readers have attended workshops and reframed self-doubt with me. Thanks for your good company! (Who knew a handful of tricks would grow into a real book?!)
This book is built from L-O-V-E. My keenest hope is that it will help people free the creative urge. (If I have anything to offer humanity, this book is it.)
On the journey toward creative liberation, I have trodden this self-doubt path myself. The tricks in this book have changed my life.
Soon, Dear Inner Critic will be available from the Literary Kitchen (literarykitchen.org). Please subscribe to my blog or follow my instagram for more information.
Whatever, Mom, by Ariel Gore & Maia Swift…What a great book. I read it in 2023, and while the times have changed a lot for all of us since this book was published—it’s still extremely relevant. The love and wisdom in these pages still apply, maybe more than ever. So grateful for this book as a guide through the brambles of raising a teen. Check it out!
I’ll post about this book and what it helps manifest at intervals. Here’s a sliver of wisdom and heat for today.
On p. 31, Ariel Gore is interviewing Audre Lorde biographer Alexis Pauline Gumbs.
Ariel Gore: “What else should aspiring lit stars know about their lit star life?”
Alexis Pauine Gumbs: “Audre Lorde wrote a poem for her children where she said:
‘Remember our sun
is not the most noteworthy star
only nearest.’
As ‘lit stars’ it matters where we are, it matters who we impact. It is not so much about our brilliance, or being the brightest and out shining other stars. It is about being close. Close to a shareable heat. It is about whether or not our communities can utilize the solar power in our writing to grow something that nourishes them for real.”
This was accidental—I had been working on the memoir about my burned-down house (318) and used a prompt from Ariel Gore‘s literary kitchen. (Ariel sends fabulous weekly prompts. You can subscribe here.) The prompt asked us to write about a place that scared us. Because the prompt called for dialogue, I wrote some dialogue. After I finished and exhaled, I looked at the page and thought, “Is this a play?” A play—shaped on the page—would fit in the memoir. I’m allowing many & various forms/containers for the work.
My undergraduate degree is in theater, but never had I written a play.
Then I noticed that the Yellow Springs Theater Company was seeking plays for their 10-minute play festival. Hmm…so with feedback from some smart and wise friends, I buffed the thing and sent it in. The play (called “Dust”) was accepted. And because the YSTC invites writers to do as much as they want with the production, I also decided to direct and act in the play. (It has been a long while. I am working with two wonderful actors as I re-learn how to do theater.)
Want to join us?
WHEN: June 3 & 4, at 7pm
WHERE: Yellow Springs High School lawn (420 E. Enon Road, Yellow Springs, 45387)
Rebecca Kuder 