You’re never bored if you have the desire to write.
The writer’s curse is that even in solitude, no matter its duration, he never grows lonely or bored. – Criss Jami
By Jerod Santek, Founding & Artistic Director, Write On Door County
July is full on monthly observations one might expect: National Blueberry Month, National Picnic Month, and National Hot Dog Month for instance. Somewhat surprisingly, it is also National Anti-Boredom Month. That begs the question, are the other 11 months being pro-boredom?
Books and Imagination Defeat Boredom
I don’t recall ever being bored as a child because I was an avid reader. How could one possibly be bored when there were so many adventures right there on the bookshelf? Fascinating people to meet and exciting new places to visit right there in my hands. Books captured my imagination in the way the television shows my neighbors watched couldn’t. Those books and their adventures made me want to be a writer. It’s impossible to be bored as a writer. There’s always a new surprise; a new character entering your mind; a new problem to be solved; a new journey to be taken.
Join the Non-Bored
Throughout National Anti-Boredom Month and beyond, we offer many opportunities for you to be actively engaged with other readers and writers. How could you be bored when you are engaged in Collaborative and Hybrid Writing (July 18) with a friend or even a stranger? Tina Jenkins Bell and Janice Tuck Lively lead you through approaches to this fun and inventive type of writing. If you don’t think you have time for writing, Nadine Kenney Johnstone shows you how to create a fascinating piece of less than 1,000 words in Micro-Memoir: Tiny True Stories (July 19) If you want to go on a real adventure by writing about something completely outside your realm of experience, Lynda Drews guides you through The Craft of Developing and Executing a Writing Research Plan (July 15 and 22). And, of course, we have a number of on-going free programs to help keep boredom at bay, including Memoir Mondays and Art/Speaks.
Continue the Fight
We’ll continue fight boredom well beyond July. Join us for one of our day-long intensive August 7, 8, or 9: poetry with Michael Kleber-Diggs, nonfiction with Staci Lola Drouillard, and fiction with Peter Geye. In September, join us for the Washington Island Literary Festival. How can you be bored on an island full of stories? We’ll continue fighting boredom every day with great books and passionate writing. We hope you will join us.
Check out these great opportunities to meet writers, hear them read, and discuss their creative processes.
Book Signing: Nadine Kenney Johnstone
Wednesday, July 19, 4 – 5:30 pm
Nadine signs copies of her latest book, Come Home to Your Heart: A Guided Journal for Harnessing Your Inner Wisdom and Falling Back in Love with Yourself
Author Reading: Joanne Nelson
Wednesday, July 19, 6:30 pm
Celebrate the release of Joanne Nelson’s newest collection of personal essays, My Neglected Gods.
Author Reading: Staci Lola Drouillard, Peter Geye, and Michael Kleber-Diggs
Tuesday, August 8, 7 pm
Join the faculty for our Writing On The Door day-long intensives as they read from and discuss their award-winning books of poetry, nonfiction, and fiction.
SPACE FOR THE UNEXPECTED: The 2023 Washington Island Literary Festival
September 21 – 23: Join us on beautiful Washington Island for our annual literary festival featuring novelists Lan Samantha Chang and Shelby Van Pelt, poet Brenda Cárdenas, nonfiction writer Meghan O’Gieblyn and multi-genre writer Quan Barry.
Workshops are filling fast. In addition to our core faculty, workshops will be offered by poet and memoirist Denise Low Weso and poet Albert DeGenova.
Thursday, September 21: Free Creative Lab open to the entire community; no registration needed.
Friday, September 22: writing workshops 10 am – noon and 1:30 – 3:30; $75 each, registration required. If spots are available, you may register on-site. To ensure your participation, advance registration is strongly recommended.
Saturday, September 23: panel discussions and author presentations with our core faculty. $150. Registration required; may register on-site.