Meg Weston offered a session on May 27.
The session was called Images, Objects and Imagination. Meg invited participants to write from prompts created from images or objects, using memory and imagination.
Meg earned her MFA degree in Creative Writing at Lesley University in 2008. Her memoir, The Volcano Tourist, follows her geologic journey as she pursues a passion that’s been with her since childhood. Her passion for volcanoes and geological hot spots around the world, as well as themes of memory, family, and self-discovery are the subjects of her writing.
Meg’s passion for photographing volcanoes has been showcased in solo exhibits, group shows, and on her website, www.volcanoes.com. She was selected to present poetry and images at the 2012 Belfast Poetry Festival and delivered a talk on “Igneous Inspirations” for the SAGE lecture series at USM’s Osher Lifelong Learning Center in the fall of 2015.
We thank Meg for her leadership and Judy for sharing this work with us!
Photographs in a Frame
by Judy O’Dell
I birthed three sons in four years, no twins. The 8-inch by 10-inch gallery picture frame holds seven snapshots, and it has lived in my various offices over the last forty years. I often glance at it and marvel at how the personalities of my sons revealed themselves at such young ages. Tom is clowning in oversize pink sunglasses, probably his grandmother’s. In another photo, his broad smile causes dimples in his baby fat cheeks, and his curly blond hair frames his face. His brothers now envy his thick curly hair. Paul, wearing a red university of something sweatshirt, intently examines the contents of a paper bag. At the top right of the frame, he smiles sweetly, wearing his Phillies baseball cap. He is still an avid fan and mourns the cancellation of the season due to COVID 19. At the lower left, Al shyly shows off the blue ribbon pinned on his sweater, the first of his many academic awards. In another photo, Paul is pulling a red Radio Flyer wagon with Tom and Al as his passengers. There is a posed photograph of the three of them sitting in the front yard of Linwood Avenue. Al is wearing his favorite OshKosh overalls and cradles baby Tom. Paul sits to his side next to a giant pumpkin. I could not afford to hire a professional photographer in those lean years, and my camera captured three serious faces.
The pictures recall the happy times, and my memories sometimes shift to the sad times after their father left us. The photographs are faded, as is the hurt.
Thank you for joining us to Write Around the World!
For the rest of the summer, watch our blog! We are sharing writing from AWA’s yearly marathon fundraiser, which happened this year all-online throughout the month of May.
We offer this series in appreciation for the incredible community of writers and workshop leaders that sustain us. If you’re inspired and would like to be part of the fundraiser, please donate!