by
Mackenzie Boyer
 |
| Dionne Custer Edwards, photo credit - Tim Johnson |
On Saturday, April 11, Dionne Custer Edwards will conduct a workshop on the
Otterbein University campus in Westerville, Ohio, and hosted by Ohio Poetry Association (OPA). Here’s a
description of the upcoming event from Dionne herself:
"We will work with words on and off the page by working through the writing process with our five senses—focusing very much on sound as it pertains to writing, reading, or performing a poem. My hope is that we all leave with something we write, revise through workshop, and share using strategies and techniques that evoke the five senses on and off the page. We will engage with the entire writing process. The goal is to focus on how to get those words out of our journals, off our laptops, and out into the public space (if we want them there)."
Continue reading to learn more about Dionne and her life as a writer and
an educator. Then on Saturday, come to the workshop to support Ohio Poetry
Association and hear Dionne speak about ‘Writing in Open Space: On (and Off)
the Page.’
Question: Since you studied music composition alongside English, I was
curious as to why you chose to continue studying this and how exactly it
affected your writing in positive ways?
Dionne: Music composition was only one portion of my music studies. I
actually studied music theory and piano from the age of four years old, flute
from the age of eight, and had a brief stint with oboe and upright bass in
middle school. I studied music throughout my life and quite seriously. I
studied for over ten years at the Cleveland Institute of Music, and at a point
in high school, I thought I might find myself applying to a conservatory of
music in college. I toyed with a career in instrumental music, performance
maybe, but ultimately writing was my path.
Q: What inspired you to go into teaching writing? What exactly do you
teach to the students at the Wexner Center? How do those students inspire you
as a writer?
Dionne: I’ve always been interested in education, teaching. Due to my
interest in writing, arts education [and] teaching writing felt like a natural
progression in my career.
In my work I engage with students on opening up pathways to their
writing through dynamic arts experiences in the galleries, on the screen (films
and video), and on the stage. I work with students on how to find inspiration
for writing in new and different ways, and on how to move through the writing
process by engaging with the creative process. What can writers learn from
other artists? I also work closely with teachers on how to integrate the arts
in the teaching of the writing process. I find this work fulfilling,
interesting, navigating our ideas and the writing process alongside
sophisticated creative concepts and the creative experimentation, research, and
process of contemporary art. I am learning alongside students and teachers I
work with at the Wexner Center. We are all in this teaching and learning
together.
Q: What advice would you give to people of all ages when it comes to
stepping into the literary world? Is there a good stepping stone that you've
found or ways someone can get involved in this world?
Dionne: I have no magical advice. I think as writers we continue to just
put one foot in front of the other and engage opportunities as they come. I
think writing every day, or at least consistently, is key. I think it helps to
find a community of creatives or other writers, people who inspire you, hear
you, support your process, and you can support their work. Ultimately once
you’re writing, attending classes or workshops, revising, I say get out there
and go to readings and other cool literary events to not only hear others’ work
but to get your work out there as well.
Q: What is your favorite style of writing/what style do you lean to
more?
Dionne: I suppose I like many different types and styles of writing, but
I am particularly fond of poetry and creative nonfiction. I like writers that
lean on life experiences and give an authentic and creative voice to the
complexities of life. I'm trying to do that with my blog lifeandwrite.com. I want to make the everyday accessible.
I tend to write poetry, lyrical prose, prose poetry. I like to experiment, blur
genre a bit, but I dare not deny the poet in me.
Q: Where would you like to see the literary world go from here? Are
there any dreams you have for our society as a whole in regards to writing and
reading?
Dionne: That’s a huge question. I need to think about that for a
while... I do hope that even as we evolve, develop, and experiment with all
kinds of new technologies and interesting new ways to communicate, we remember
to read (often), write (with intention), and wonder.
Q: You've done so much in your life, so what are your plans from here?
Dionne: You think? Maybe. Wow. Thank you. I feel like I’m just
beginning, but no matter what is next in my life, I want to be sure I am fully
present and engaged. I am so thankful for the opportunities I’ve had in my
career. I really love this work, what I'm doing in the arts. I also enjoy my
family, raising my three sons, they teach me so much: how to slow down,
appreciate every breath, laugh, cry, reflect, and wonder. I write daily, in and
around all the interestingness of life. Who knows what is next but I suppose
I’m busy paying attention and in appreciation of now—oh and writing it all down
of course.
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