International Women’s Spread Katie S.

Introducing the outgoing, studious, generous, and sweethearted, Katie. She's one of the leaders I met in Brooklyn Women's Writing Group. 😄

Kaylyn Gabbert: What led you to wanting to be one of the hosts of Brooklyn Women’s Writing Group?

Katie S.: I graduated from an MFA program in 2017 and moved to Brooklyn in the fall of that year. I was looking for a way to hold myself accountable to keeping a regular writing practice in my life as I had to start working full-time, and to meet other writers, and I found the BWWG on Meetup after browsing through a few different groups. I thought it was great that they met every week (at the Brooklyn Library's Prospect Park branch), and everyone I met during those initial sessions was so friendly and I loved meeting women from different walks of life who all had some kind of practice they were looking for accountability and support with. And I didn't feel ready to jump into a workshop setting with strangers but liked that the structure had a very low barrier of entry. And I think it was only a few months after I joined the group, Saiya, who started the group in March of 2017, put a call out to the members to ask if anyone was interested in taking over as a host. I decided I wanted to give it a shot as an organizer, because I found so much value in the group, and so it was me and a few other writers--Lena and Kathleen--who ended up taking over to start with, when we were holding the events every Sunday at the library. There have been other folks involved as hosts, too, between then and now, and obviously COVID was a big transitional period in terms of adding to our sessions, but that's more or less the genesis of it!

I would say also, I've been in some wonderful workshop settings with men and have absolutely learned a lot from the perspectives of men and some of my favorite writers are men but I do think there is some special kind of value in having a space for women, women-aligned, and nonbinary/gender-nonconforming people to share our creativity. It just feels different; I guess it's hard to explain and of course we all have such different experiences and points of view, still, but something about it just feels especially sacred to me.

KG: What are your favorite mediums to write in?

KS: For better or worse, I am pretty addicted to writing longhand in notebooks. I'm not sure why! In middle school I kept a tiny little journal and would dutifully record one page (like, three or four sentences) of the day's events in it. We also had language arts teachers who began class with freewriting, and we had to always keep our hands moving was the only rule, even if we were writing "I don't know what to write about". After high school (I wasn't writing much during that time except for classes) I found Natalie Goldberg's Writing Down the Bones (writing exercises and some creative guidance from a zen buddhist perspective), which is responsible for my moments of "oh my gosh I love this" with regard to writing and thinking creatively, as a young adult, and that book is, I believe, pre-word-processors, and very "keep your hand moving" so I think it's just been ingrained in me. And I'm a very physical person, I like to be outside, move around, dance (poorly), ride my bike...writing with a pen in a notebook just feels like a more potent way to bring internal thoughts outside myself, without an electronic intermediary. When I started grad school, I don't know why but I wrote SO small. Like, two lines of text per ruled line of paper, to the point that it was hard to read. I think honestly maybe I was afraid of what I was writing or was embarrassed by it. But I had a professor who gave me an assignment to tape some butcher paper to my wall and write on it, big enough that it could be read at some distance. Anyway I would also say the flip side of the immediacy and connection is that I do think writing longhand can make me become a little precious about things, more reluctant to revise because I have more attachment to the words exactly how they came out, and so when I do decide to revise something--and for poems especially--moving them onto a computer and playing around that way helps loosen my attachment. So I'll usually start with everything I write written out longhand for a first draft even if it's very loose, then move it to the computer and do some revising there, then print out a copy and mark up edits/make notes on the hard copy, then make the edits on the computer, etc. All that is to say, I think that being able to utilize a variety of mediums depending on the stage of the project works best for me, but you'll most often see me writing in a notebook with a black pen.

KG: You are gorgeous. What is your favorite thing about your natural aesthetic?

KS: Wow, that's so kind, thank you! Ah, in our maddeningly youth-obsessed culture I really try to not think too much about my appearance and just wash my face, keep my hair clean, and wear clothes that make me feel good. I used to be a lot more insecure and look-obsessed and I'm glad that a lot of that has fallen away as I've gotten older. I have wrinkles around my eyes which just blows my mind every time I see them, but I also think I am so lucky to have lived long enough that I have wrinkles! And something I think about too is how I look like other people in my family, how my appearance is a kind of direct connection to my family and by extension my ancestors, like my external presentation is an expression of that history...I think that's cool.

KG: What are your hobbies?

KS: Jogging--I moved to Queens last summer (eek!) and now am near to some great parks and neighborhoods that make running feel easier, so I'm trying to keep up that practice, the more I do it the easier it gets. Painting--not as often as I'd like but I enjoy painting with acrylics; I got a set of oil paints as a gift recently but have felt a little intimidated to start that. Drawing too, sometimes--there's a great drink & draw Sunday evenings at Club Cumming in Manhattan and they always have fantastic figure models and it's just a great vibe, I like to go with friends. I played tennis in high school and am trying to get back into that, though competition for court time here is fierce. Playing tennis, like holding the racquet, figuring out how to move, none of that comes naturally to me so I try to find enjoyment in the difficulty of it. I'm still very, very bad. I ride my bike a lot, mostly for transportation but I'd say it's a hobby as well because it's my favorite way to explore the city, and I'm trying to learn more about and do more basic bike maintenance myself. And just walking around, unfortunately I am addicted to many podcasts, some of them educational some of them I think of more as "junk food" and I enjoy putting on a podcast and taking a long walk, but I think it's also good to take in the sounds of the city and just take it all in--creatively I think that's more useful so I try to do that sometimes, too. Relatedly, exploring parks and natural areas around and outside of the city. I like volunteering with NYC Parks at their stewardship events because you get to go behind the scenes on different maintenance projects and help with the work, and they sometimes show you certain parks and spots that maybe you hadn't heard of before. And going to live music, comedy, theatre, poetry readings...I wouldn't say any of that is a hobby for me necessarily but I do feel like it would be foolish to not take advantage of all the incredible cultural offerings the city has because there are so many unbelievably talented and creative people here, and there is so much to do on any given night of the week.