I never met a writer who said “fuck” more than Joe Millar or Pete Fromm… until today. Dorothy Allison‘s talk on place at Tin House was nothing short of awesome.
She reminded us that writing about place is so much more than getting the details right. It’s not just the type of tile used in a truck stop or the manicured gardens at a college. It’s our reaction and response to those things that creates meaningful story.
She also issued a challenge: “We’re only getting Portland out of Charlie.” (Charles D’Ambrosio) “You people gotta get to work.”
Right now, Portland is easy for me because I just showed up. Stumptown, Powell’s, the Hawthorne Bridge… everything is a new experience and I’m taking it all in, noticing the detail. What my own challenge will be is to begin to write myself into the picture, whether as a character in fiction or as narrator in memoir. Me experiencing and responding to my place.