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As a writing major in college, I often found myself breaking out in a cold sweat at the thought of my class assignments: "Write about your life." and "Write what you know" seemed like deadly threats to me. After all, I was not an out bisexual. And I was so "in" that I was sure every lesbian on campus would hate me when they found out. So what could I possibly write about when the teacher asked us to "take something from your past" and everyone started talking about their first kiss or the exchange student from Germany they dated in their senior year at school?
Well, after rubbing sweaty palms on my jeans I would decide to tell about my cat that got hit when I was eight, or my favorite food. There was rarely a chance to be honest about what I really found important, like the really cute girl in the library who I was SURE was a lesbian, but too frightened to approach, or the first time I had come out to a boyfriend about the fact that I found the same girls attractive that he did (and how supportive he was) and how that unnerved me a little.
As I read that essay on "why I like French toast" to the class, I was really longing to read was the stuff I was secretly writing in my diary and locking away in my dorm room. Many writers reading this right now might recall that. Many students from Composition 101 also can relate, I'm sure.
But, when I started graduate school at Goddard College, I knew I could put those days of worry behind me. The center of my concern was the craft of writing. Not with whom I was or wasn't sleeping. right from the beginning of the application process, I saw that this program was set up for acceptance of people. My dorm application even had a spot for requesting "lesbian only" housing! That was great. To top it off, most of the faculty, it turned out were gay or lesbian. Many had been honored for their work by the community. The weight that I had been carrying lifted as I attended my first residency. The people were friendly, the subjects of peoples works in progress consisted of everything from a memoir on living in the art community in NY and rubbing elbows with such legends as Mapplethorpe to fiction about, wonder of wonders, falling in love with the girl next to you in high school!
Beyond the "gay friendliness" of the faculty, etc., I found that the goal of the program was to let you as a student choose the path along which you would grow. You as a student are empowered with the support of your teachers to make your own decisions, something that rarely happened to me in undergraduate school. The list of important, published authors included people like Sarah Schulman, who's reputation for being a disciplined and hard writer/teacher had many students running in fear, (along with her hearty list of published fiction and awards such as the American Library Association Gay/Lesbian Book Award [1994] ) but, who's heart and conviction to good literature wins everyone over in time; Paul Selig, who is a performer I believe everyone must see in action to fully enjoy, is co-lead of the program and works fastidiously with his students and has had his plays published in anthologies such as "The Best American Short Plays of 1995-96" ; and Chase Twichell (a newcomer to the program last semester) who has taught at UVM with the summer writing program, published several books of poetry and co-edited a book on teaching called "The practice of poetry" ; Mariana Romo-Carmona whose stories about lesbian life combine a tender and witty side with the serious and romantic and whose new book, Living at Night has just been published by Spinster Press (see review this issue). Many other gay and Lesbian Luminaries of the writing world have taught or continue to teach here, such as Kenny Fries, Michael Klein, Mark Doty, Jacqueline Woodson, Joan Larkin, Jaime Manrique and Nora Mitchell.
The next residency starts in January and I would encourage anyone who is interested
in hearing some good work to come to the open readings at the Haybarn Theatre
on campus. From Friday January 17 through Thursday, January 22 in the evenings
starting at 6:30 PM both the faculty and students will read their work. For
more information call the school at (802) 485-8311.
