Daily Nourishment for April 3, 2024: Long, long, long ago with Anonymous 4 and Lauren Winner
Daily Nourishment Read Time: 50 seconds
Pause/Prompt/Practice Time: 10-13 minutes
On “long, long, long ago” beginnings.
Prompt.
Among my favorite cds (yes, that’s still how I listen to music) are those by Anonymous 4, a now-disbanded quartet (obviously) of women who first sang medieval music, and then, in 2004, began interweaving American music into their recording repertoire.
After the release of their first American-flavored album, Anonymous 4 was interviewed on NPR. In that interview Marsha Genensky says that long before Anonymous 4 even existed, she was studying traditional folk music with a woman in the Ozarks. Genensky’s teacher took her to church, where she heard “Abbeville.” “I was moved beyond anything and I just had to know more.” That was the beginning of the many-years-later American Angels. “Sometimes you just get a sound in your head and you, you just have to follow it,” said Genensky.
Practice.
Write for 7-10 minutes about something you heard in the past that you just had to follow.
If nothing comes to mind, see if you can write your way into a memory of something you heard and followed.
Want More?
Listen to the NPR interview quoted above: ‘Hope, Redemption & Glory' with Anonymous 4
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Upcoming Workshops & Gatherings
—Sunday, 4/7/2024: Thoughtful Readers Gathering with Jose Diaz Hernandez and Magic City Poetry Festival; Free, Book available for purchase
—Back by Popular Demand: Narrative Writing with Tanya Davis is back for another four weeks this spring. The Friday Cohort begins on Friday, 4/19. The Saturday BIPOC Cohort begins on 4/20. $49 for four sessions.
—AND our Four-Hour Retreats are back this month to help you write more often, improve your writing skills, and feel nourished by your writing practice. The Four-Hour group retreats will also help you have greater integration between your writing life and other areas of life so you can establish a more sustainable writing practice that works for you.
SDW Members: You are eligible for a Four-Hour Retreat discount equal to your monthly membership rate. Please email me at charlotte@charlottedonlon.com for your discount code.
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Today’s Daily Nourishment was provided by Lauren Winner.
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