How Has 2025 Greeted YOU?
Be Quiet or You Might Miss It
A throwback candle I rediscovered for just this occasion of reconnection (Soul Star is 8th chakra)!
The new year has me sitting in silence (which is also the title of a really great newsletter from Maurice Carlos Ruffin) and listening to myself, the world around me, the whispers from my grandmothers, whose prayers still cover me. What that’s looked like is me sitting criss-cross-applesauce in front of my ancestor altar, a small candle before me, no devices or mediation sounds or anything, just me and my breath, me and my body, me and myself.
I’ve tried to keep a routine of prayer and meditations most mornings, but as things moved and demands for my time changed, I’d always fall off the practice. I often underestimated how important those moments of quiet were for me and my artmaking, for me and my overall mental and emotional health. That is until a couple weeks go by and I’m feeling way off, feeling uncertain and doubtful, worried and anxious.
What I’ve tried to remind myself, though, is that I can always return to the practice, that I am always welcome at the feet of my ancestors and always invited to make space and time for my intuition, which is always loudest and most convincing when I quiet down and actually listen to it.
With this new year, I am challenging myself to make intentional time for quiet, for hushing myself and my life, so that I can hear the insights and inspirations speaking to me from beyond the here and now. I have it on good authority (my own) that 2025 is going to an incredible year of beautiful blessings beyond my wildest dreams, so I’m setting the conditions just right to hear my grandmothers’ wisdom and the callings of my own heart.
p.s. I know I got a baby on the way and moments of silence will soon be hard to come by… but I got time for now!
Catch Me in These Literary Streets
As if my morning meditations weren’t enough to help me set the tone for 2025, my year began with a beautiful book release party for my dear friend Gloria Muñoz, whose excellent book, This is the Year, is out now! Then, I sat beside the insightful, impeccable Zora Neale Hurston scholar, Dr. Deborah Plant, at The Woodson Museum, to talk about Hurston’s new novel (yes, NEW NOVEL!), The Life of Herod the Great. If you missed it, you can watch it here!
Apparently, the trend for me at the start of 2025 is literary arts and community… wait. Ain’t that the trend for me every year? Anyway… catch me in the streets for these excellent events—including being the writer-in-residence for The Porch!!
Hot Ones!
If you know me, you know I like heat, and it’s not often I get to bring together my passion for hot sauce and books, so this event is not to be missed! Join us at Good Intentions in St. Pete, FL, on January 20th for a literary event like no other! RSVP: reservations@goodintentionsfl.com
IRL…IRL… IN. REAL. LIFE.
I’ve been teaching with The Porch since 2020 and the time has flown by! I’ve learned so much about myself as an artist and teacher in these years, and I couldn’t be more excited to visit The Porch in person for the first time since this amazing organization came into my life! I’ll be in town for the last weekend in January, reading work with local TN writers, visiting HBCU American Baptist College, and teaching an in-person workshop on experimentation and exploration as craft at The Porch!
REGISTER HERE for an Evening with Sheree L. Greer and Friends
REGISTER HERE for the Saturday workshop
Special thank you to the all the sponsors for this event!
ReadOut: Queering the Narrative
It’s that time again… The ReadOut Festival of LGBTQ Literature is next month! There’ll be panels and opportunities to build literary community with writers and readers from Florida and beyond!
In a state where they trying to outlaw queerness and silence our voices, we’re being deliberate about queering the narrative and amplifying the community the state is trying so hard to dismantle and destroy.
Come through for the writers, stay for the resistance!
Care and Joy, Right On Time
Looking for a way to transmute some of the all-is-lost, welcome-to-the-Dumpster-Fire-that-is-America Part 47? Join me and some of my favorite writers and thinkers from Kitchen Table Literary Arts for a conversation about (re)claiming your inner child and the embarking on the essential journey to self and communal joy! The Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at USF presents, “Care and Joy in Precarious Times” February 21, 2025!
Shaaaaaaaaaaaaaaake Somethin’ For Me!
I been trying to tell y’all that Shake Rag Alley got something special. I first visited in 2021 (as pictured), and it’s safe to say I fell in love with Mineral Point and Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts. The vibe is laid back, the trails are beautiful, and a whole weekend of writers writing and talking writing? YES PLEASE.
My visits to this charming town in my home state is always a delight. I’ve got a good feeling this year will be no exception! I’m headed back to Mineral Point, Wisconsin, for the annual writing retreat, Mining Your Stories in May and I’d love to see you there!
There is a discount for students and scholarships available!
Also, if you’ve got some writing to submit to Shake Rag Alley’s first anthology, WHERE WE LIVE, send your best work HERE!
