We three met at the National Theater Institute in 2013. Elena suggested this group at the beginning of Covid as a way to cope/stay engaged/be creative/etc. We generated prompts from conversations, books of writing prompts, writing prompt generator websites, and some from Suleika Jauad's The Isolation Journals. Like a lot of folks, we all started many projects in 2020, but this is one of the few we all actually kept up with. We are intentional about what we're doing: we meet once a week remotely for one hour - unless someone has a conflict and we decide not to meet, or decide to meet for longer. We don't have homework - occasionally we'll "bring in an object" or pick a song to share, but there's no expectation of work being done before the meeting. When we write, we never focus on having any kind of final product - some pieces are left unfinished, and we just move on to write something else if we feel like it. Even this book is not the culmination of all our work; it comes out of wanting to celebrate what we've done so far. This whole vibe is part of why we've been able to stick with it while we fell off of other projects.
We've held these meetings on Thursdays, Sundays, Wednesdays, (but never Saturdays!) because we all work in theater and our schedules vary a lot. We are constantly changing and evolving the format: some days we invite guests, some days we play DnD, sometimes we have a plan, and other times we spend most of our time chatting. In year one, we mostly wrote from prompts and conversations, using what was happening around us and what was going on in our internal worlds. In year two, we did a lot of accountability writing - we all had other things we were working on, and used our weekly hour for that. In year three, we have expanded our structure and sources of inspiration, using more nontraditional sources to help us generate work.
We decided to make a book at this stage, because at the start of year three we looked back and realized we had generated a large amount of work. We thought it would be nice to collect some of it in one place. We had previously discussed starting a blog, which we also have done, but Ivy wanted something she could physically hold as well and Tessa and Elena said fine. We've been friends for ten years, have been writing for three, and this feels like a commemoration of both those things. Common themes emerge as we write: suburbia, dystopia, the environment, technology breakdown, love. As we write about these things, we reflect these ideas back at each other, which helps us imagine them in new and different ways. In writing this book, we hope to share some of that collaborative process with you. We invite you to read, and also to take inspiration from anything that catches your imagination.
Elena Faverio is a trans nonbinary creative and abolitionist currently living in Lenapehoking, (present day Philadelphia) with their smoochy cat Yertle. Previous writing includes Blaze (a musical about a pyromaniac in love with the girl next door), i don't get out much (a play with music about people who don't leave their houses), and After the Flood (a musical about siblings and processing grief). Elena is interested in exploring alternate systems of community care and safety, the abolition of policing and the carceral system, and making art as far removed from everything they learned in drama school as possible. More at www.elenafaverio.com or https: //www.youtube.com/c/ElenaFaverio
Tessa Permar grew up on the island of Noepe (also called Martha's Vineyard), where she currently resides. She grew up dancing and trained to become a choreographer. At age 25, Tessa moved back home to treat chronic Lyme Disease. During this time, she started writing, cooking, and dating. She has since worked as a chocolatier and a job coach, supporting individuals with barriers to employment due to disability, illness, and mental health diagnoses. Tessa continues to choreograph and teaches accessible dance and movement classes. She will one day escape Martha's Vineyard and be able to buy socks whenever she wants. Until then, she writes, dances, and spends quality time with Ivy and Elena. Find her at: https: //howtobesick.substack.com/
Ivy Stevens grew up in a small town and moved to a slightly bigger one in Upstate New York, on land belonging to the Gayogohó'no people, where she lives with her supportive husband and cute dog. Her training is in stage management for the theater, which she has done consistently for the past decade, most frequently with the local Shakespeare and opera companies. For a day job, she is the inventory manager at an indie bookstore, where she reads less than you'd think but still a lot. Her goal when writing is to conjure in the reader the sense of being in a particular time and place, which they can then occupy together for a while.
