@The Library

Do you ever wonder what makes writers want to write? How do they get started and then, what keeps them going? Join us for informal conversations with accomplished writers in the field. Delve into their process and share their deepest thoughts about their craft and genre.

An evening with Cecilia Woloch

I've been reading and writing poetry for almost 40 years now, and have been fascinated with the power and beauty of language for as long as I've been able to speak. I see language as a bridge between the inner and outer worlds, a bridge that I attempt to build again every time I start to write; a bridge that I cross in order to explore the inner life of things I've experienced in the outer world, in the hopes of discovering something I didn't know -- or didn't know I knew -- before I began to write; a bridge that, I hope, the reader may subsequently also cross into a deeper and wider apprehension of his or her own experience. I try always to sustain a deep engagement with the world around m, as well as a deep connection to my inner life; I travel, I teach, I write and, more and more frequently, my work is made public. I avail myself of opportunities to move my poems out into the larger world, where they seem to take on a life of their own. I love this Miller Williams quote: "A poem comes into being when the imagination of the writer and the imagination of the reader meet inside an act of language.

About Cecilia Woloch

I drive a pick-up truck and can climb into and out of it in a cocktail dress and high heels. I can dance salsa and cha cha cha and speak fairly decent French. I'm currently learning Polish and can fake it in a couple of other languages. I can do splits, but not cartwheels. Double pirhouettes but not triple. My grammar skills have advanced to the point that I know how and when to use the subjunctive. I'm addicted to novels. I've never owned a television. I've taught creative writing to the criminally insane and line dancing to the elderly. I've crossed the Polish-Ukrainian border on foot in the company of smugglers and journalists. I prefer to live out of a suitcase. Can build a fire and bathe in a bucket. Can apply lipstick in a rearview mirror. Once gave myself a haircut with a breadknife. Twice-divorced and childless. Also write poems and narrative non-fiction.