Our United States of Writing series is devoted to writers who live in towns, villages, and hamlets that may not have the literary infrastructure of some larger cities but are nonetheless full of creative people with personal and professional stories that we could all benefit from reading. In the following essays, writers share how they approach the writing life where they live, their personal points of view on the literary community (both small and large) and their place within it, and what resources are available to them as writers who don’t live in a metropolitan area.
The Waiting Seasons: One Poet’s Life in Alaska by Annie Wenstrup
From her home just outside of Fairbanks proper, a poet subverts mainstream Alaskan imagery to conjure the reality of her writing life, which includes a local waste transfer site, muddy shoulder seasons, and slow internet.
Family Farms and County Fairs: A Different Kind of Book Tour by Carla Panciera
Before the author of Barnflower was a writer, she was a farm kid. The memoirist shares moments from her book tour, which included meeting cows and visiting corn mazes alongside reading at local bookstores and reconnecting with friends.
Way Out Here: One Writer’s Life in Maine by Joan Dempsey
A novelist based in rural Maine shares how she creates community—by reading her literary ancestors, engaging with living writers all over the state, and hosting an online writers studio—all while dispensing with the archetype of the lonely writer.
Radiant Fog: One Writer’s Life in Rural America by Kathleen Melin
A poet shares how she builds a life around her writing in rural Wisconsin, where literary community takes surprising—and sometimes amusing—forms. She finds both struggle and abundance in her chosen path.
