Director’s Cut
It was March 2020 when many of us began to recognize—if not fully accept—that COVID was going to be a serious disruption, and not a fleeting one either. Here we are, one year later (or one hundred COVID years later), and nothing is the same, which doesn’t mean everything has changed. Or, as Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr put it much more poetically, “plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose” (the more things change, the more they stay the same).
At 1455 we were obliged, seemingly overnight, to reconsider how we conceived and positioned our programming. Until last year, poetry readings, author interviews, concerts, and festivals all were by definition in-person events. For a variety of perfectly understandable reasons, many organizations suspended or cancelled their programs. Until further notice threatened to become the new reality. This seemed unacceptable and I, equal parts stubborn and optimistic, realized that the proverbial show must go on. 1455 took our free events online and tried to find a silver lining for every potential setback.
We certainly anticipate returning to semi-normalcy in the coming months, and acknowledge that nothing can replace or even approximate the intimacy of live events. That said, we could hardly have imagined the opportunities provided by virtual programming. As we saw with last year’s Summer Festival, the potential for genuine inclusivity is significant: we more than tripled the number of panels and speakers, reaching many thousands of people across the country and the world. We have even grander plans for our third annual festival, this July.
It seems there’s been at once too much and not enough discussion about the ways this past year has impacted our artistic communities, on both macro and micro levels. When assessing the state of the art (or, arts), anyone hoping to stay abreast of what’s happening—much less what’s coming—must have at least a familiarity with how things have always been. This issue of MOVABLE TYPE attempts to explore what has (and hasn’t) changed for writers and writing.
Courtney Maum, who has already established herself as a brilliant novelist, has delivered an incredible gift to aspiring (and even established) authors with her recent book BEFORE AND AFTER THE BOOK DEAL. Exhaustively researched and carefully assembled, it’s an instant-classic, with comments and quotes from countless authors, editors, and agents. Any writer hoping to navigate the ever-complicated literary landscape would do well to acquire this, and we’re honored to showcase Courtney as our Featured Writer this month with an excerpt from her book. Vonetta Young discusses how—and why—in times of uncertainty, she turns to words. We’re fortunate to have the insider perspective from two important fronts: Anna Sproul-Latimer explores the state of things from her vantage point as an agent, and Gregg Wilhelm, who directs GMU’s Writing Program, offers a candid appraisal of what’s going on (and why change is always necessary and welcome) in the MFA workshop. Finally, we have Detroit’s Estuary Collective, who epitomize the power (and potential) of poetry, and the urgent need—now more than ever—to prioritize collaboration over competition. And, not least, this is the first issue of Movable Type overseen by its new editorial director, Bethanne Patrick, whose indefatigable love of writing and unparalleled experience will help take this publication to the next level.
In uncertain times, one thing remains immutable: storytelling is crucial and people can—and must—find ways to create, share, and connect. Everything is changing. Nothing has changed
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