Shepherd
02-01-2009, 01:53 PM
My article “Don’t Underestimate Agrotherapy’s Curative Powers” was published by the Press Democrat on Sunday, Feb. 1. You can read it at PressDemocrat.com | The Press Democrat | Santa Rosa, CA (https://www.pressdemocrat.com) in the “Voices” column. I also have a version titled “Farms Heal” that is nearly twice as long that has a national rather than local focus, in case you might know of publications that would consider publishing it.
This article summarizes my research that was just published in a new anthology and will appear in a distinct chapter in another book in May. I will do readings from these books at various places, hopefully also including Sonoma State University, where I currently teach part-time.
Two readings already scheduled are with garlic farmer, memoir author, and retired college professor Chester Aaron. He is described in a recent Bohemian article as follows: “The charismatic Occidental writer and garlic king has lived an extraordinary life, and, at 85, remains one of our best writers and storytellers.”
Chester and I both have stories in the recently published University of Hawai’i Press book "Enduring War: Stories of What We’ve Learned." My essay “In Praise of Sweet Darkness” is scheduled for the Sierra Club Book’s Ecotherapy: Healing with Nature in Mind, whose publication date is May. Our confirmed readings include the following; we are open to other invitations in the Bay Area and beyond:
Feb. 17, VIVA, 6:30-8:30. The Culinary Institute of Florence/Italian Cultural Center, 7160 Keating Avenue, Sebastopol, CA, 824-9913. $15 includes light supper and beverage.
March 26, 7 p.m., Copperfield Books, 138 N. Main, Sebastopol, 823-2618.
(I will also recite poetry with a cast of characters on Feb. 7 at Rumi’s Caravan at Sebastopol’s Masonic Lodge. On Feb. 28 I will join Joanna Macy to read Rilke at Santa Rosa’s Church of the Incarnation. On March 7, starting at 11:30 a 90 minute documentary, “Soldiers of Conscience,” about conscientious objectors in the ranks, will be screened at the Sebastopol Center for the Arts, after which I will facilitate a discussion.)
My essay “The Grim Reaper, Agrotherapy, Kokopelli and Pinochet’s Darkness” in "Enduring War"--which is a 175 page issue of the literary Manoa Journal--takes an archetypal psychology approach. It starts as follows: “I farm with an old-fashioned scythe. I can cut skillfully between my berry rows with it. I like how my body dances while swinging this long, efficient partner. I enjoy seeing what falls, but I must avoid killing small oaks and redwoods. The sharp blade forces me to keep my attention on the ground, which holds up all of us, each creature, no matter how small, each with its important role. The sounds of the scythe comfort me as it swishes through the grass.” The essay’s sections include “Moving to Kokopelli Farm” and “The Oral Tradition of Recited Poetry.” More information at MANOA Home (https://manoajournal.hawaii.edu/)
My essay “In Praise of Sweet Darkness” in the forthcoming "Ecotherapy" begins as follows: “I was so weary of my world. Day by day, it was becoming louder, faster, and more machine-driven. With too many people and too little nature, life felt increasingly unbalanced. I felt separate from nature, rather than a part of it. My energy was ebbing and my soul was not content. I remembered that I felt better with fewer people around and more plants, animals, and natural elements such as water and rocks. So I decided to seek a place in the country, where I could escape on weekends.” The sections that follow include “Living on the Land,” “Kokopelli Farm,” Healing War Wounds,” and “Leaning and Luscious Berries.”
Some of my earlier writing on these subjects can be viewed by doing a google search of my name plus agrotherapy. These articles also cover related issues, such as the Slow Food movement, Peak Oil, post-traumatic stress, and sustainability. Various sites, including that of the Veterans’ Writing Group, where both of these essays were begun, Veterans of War, Veterans of Peace (https://www.vowvop.org)., also carry my writing and that of colleagues.
Copies of "Enduring War" are now available at Kokopelli Farm in Sebastopol, and Chester also has copies to sell in Occidental. Both books should soon be available at Copperfield Books and other bookstores.
Further information from Shepherd Bliss,
[email protected] and (707) 829-8185.
This article summarizes my research that was just published in a new anthology and will appear in a distinct chapter in another book in May. I will do readings from these books at various places, hopefully also including Sonoma State University, where I currently teach part-time.
Two readings already scheduled are with garlic farmer, memoir author, and retired college professor Chester Aaron. He is described in a recent Bohemian article as follows: “The charismatic Occidental writer and garlic king has lived an extraordinary life, and, at 85, remains one of our best writers and storytellers.”
Chester and I both have stories in the recently published University of Hawai’i Press book "Enduring War: Stories of What We’ve Learned." My essay “In Praise of Sweet Darkness” is scheduled for the Sierra Club Book’s Ecotherapy: Healing with Nature in Mind, whose publication date is May. Our confirmed readings include the following; we are open to other invitations in the Bay Area and beyond:
Feb. 17, VIVA, 6:30-8:30. The Culinary Institute of Florence/Italian Cultural Center, 7160 Keating Avenue, Sebastopol, CA, 824-9913. $15 includes light supper and beverage.
March 26, 7 p.m., Copperfield Books, 138 N. Main, Sebastopol, 823-2618.
(I will also recite poetry with a cast of characters on Feb. 7 at Rumi’s Caravan at Sebastopol’s Masonic Lodge. On Feb. 28 I will join Joanna Macy to read Rilke at Santa Rosa’s Church of the Incarnation. On March 7, starting at 11:30 a 90 minute documentary, “Soldiers of Conscience,” about conscientious objectors in the ranks, will be screened at the Sebastopol Center for the Arts, after which I will facilitate a discussion.)
My essay “The Grim Reaper, Agrotherapy, Kokopelli and Pinochet’s Darkness” in "Enduring War"--which is a 175 page issue of the literary Manoa Journal--takes an archetypal psychology approach. It starts as follows: “I farm with an old-fashioned scythe. I can cut skillfully between my berry rows with it. I like how my body dances while swinging this long, efficient partner. I enjoy seeing what falls, but I must avoid killing small oaks and redwoods. The sharp blade forces me to keep my attention on the ground, which holds up all of us, each creature, no matter how small, each with its important role. The sounds of the scythe comfort me as it swishes through the grass.” The essay’s sections include “Moving to Kokopelli Farm” and “The Oral Tradition of Recited Poetry.” More information at MANOA Home (https://manoajournal.hawaii.edu/)
My essay “In Praise of Sweet Darkness” in the forthcoming "Ecotherapy" begins as follows: “I was so weary of my world. Day by day, it was becoming louder, faster, and more machine-driven. With too many people and too little nature, life felt increasingly unbalanced. I felt separate from nature, rather than a part of it. My energy was ebbing and my soul was not content. I remembered that I felt better with fewer people around and more plants, animals, and natural elements such as water and rocks. So I decided to seek a place in the country, where I could escape on weekends.” The sections that follow include “Living on the Land,” “Kokopelli Farm,” Healing War Wounds,” and “Leaning and Luscious Berries.”
Some of my earlier writing on these subjects can be viewed by doing a google search of my name plus agrotherapy. These articles also cover related issues, such as the Slow Food movement, Peak Oil, post-traumatic stress, and sustainability. Various sites, including that of the Veterans’ Writing Group, where both of these essays were begun, Veterans of War, Veterans of Peace (https://www.vowvop.org)., also carry my writing and that of colleagues.
Copies of "Enduring War" are now available at Kokopelli Farm in Sebastopol, and Chester also has copies to sell in Occidental. Both books should soon be available at Copperfield Books and other bookstores.
Further information from Shepherd Bliss,
[email protected] and (707) 829-8185.