The Writing: On writing spaces

Once upon a time I had a strong impulse to throw parties and arrange meetings. There was something in the air for me around bringing people together. I had many reasons: the thrill of the crowd; the mystery of strangers coming together; the desire to buy the flowers myself. But most of all I made what I wished already existed. To court attendance, I tried to make the events seem as casual and low-key as possible—just come whenever you want, no need to RSVP!, for example, or you don’t even have to do the reading; I’ll provide summaries! Needless to say, my nascent book clubs, movie fests, and morning brunches never quite took off the ground. I’d become discouraged by low attendance in the first couple of meetings or I’d get overwhelmed by the frequency that I myself had chosen.