I am migrating my newsletter to this new, cool, hip, and groovy Substack.
Before I talk about all the wonderful writerly things happening, I have to admit the following. Even though he has been dead for twelve years, I still look over my shoulder to ask Kent’s advice about something as small as which font I should use on my new business card. It’s the trouble with having your best friend as your mate. Sigh.
I am heading out to the AWP Conference on March 25 to help my friend and colleague (and superbly talented writer) Natasha Williams promote her book.
Forthcoming April 29th, 2025 with Apprentice House Press
The Parts of Him I Kept is an intimate account of a daughter’s coming of age in the face of her father’s schizophrenic unraveling. Williams investigates the limits of our medical and cultural understanding of schizophrenia while chronicling the shared burden and benefits of caring for a mentally ill family member. In the tradition of Michael Greenberg’s Hurry Down Sunshine and Robert Kolker’s Hidden Valley Road, The Parts of Him I Kept asks us to consider the ways mental illness is as much a social issue as a biological condition.
It’s beyond powerful. I wrote a blurb: “A gifted work of graceful eloquence, this memoir is an homage to the universal power of tenderness.” — Lisa St. John, author of Swallowing Stones
We are doing a panel!
It was an honor to attend the reading of our new Ulster County Poet Laureate, Mike Jurkovic at the Woodstock Poetry Society. He is the founder of Calling All Poets, a legendary community here in the Hudson Valley. Congratulations, Mike!
Ulster County Poet Laureate Mike Jurkovic 2025 State of the County Address: VIDEO
And for some SUPER BIG GIANT news (apparently, it’s an adjective kind of day), the International Women’s Writing Guild (IWWG) is having its summer Writing and Wellness retreat right here in the Hudson Valley!
Register soon before it fills up!
Keep in touch! lisachristinastjohn.com