Today we’re talking to Miriam BC Tobin, winner of the Goddard Alumni Association Spirit Grant for her work with SCRiB Lab, a writing organization aimed at creating community through experimentation. SCRiB Lab provides writing labs in three categories: SCRiBE for literary writers; SCRiPT for dramatic writers; and SCRiBBLE for ideas seekers. Besides creating a playful space for writers, Miriam is a contemporary absurdist playwright, interested in using the grandiose and extraordinary to explore human truths.

We talk about Absurdism with a capital A in theater: how absurdism (like rocks starting to talk) can be used not to be silly or funny, but to make a point about human existence. Miriam says, “Absurdism is this idea, or this concept of what happens when a human faces the greater universe. And is that space in between ‘I am a small little human’ and the devastation of seeing the great expanse of the universe.” We also talk about how the themes of Absurdism relate to classical Greek and Roman theater, in how humans relate to nature.

At Goddard, Miriam was exposed to pre-Columbian drama (particularly Mayan) and Noh drama, both of which influenced her thesis play. She was specifically drawn to how both of those eras engage the community/audience in the participation or spectacle of the plays, and how the stories continue beyond the end of the theater piece.

Keep up with Miriam and SCRiB Lab at:

Website: https://mirbct.com/plays

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scrib.lab/

Website: https://www.scriblab.org/

And if anyone wants to compose an opera with Miriam, or sponsor SCRiBLAB do get in touch!

• Sleep No More: https://mckittrickhotel.com/events/sleep-no-more/
• The Catamounts: https://www.thecatamounts.org/
• Sweet Truth: https://www.instagram.com/sweettruthinsta/

• Sleeping Beauty
• Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
• The Bacchae, Euripides
• Medea, Euripides
• Sweeney Todd, Stephen Sondheim

• Martin Esslin
• Samuel Beckett
• Theater of the Absurd
• Linda Addison
• Jeff Strand

Warning: SPOILERS ABOUND in this episode!

Sam Rebelein and Mike Alvarez are back for an appropriately Halloween-y episode! Last time we talked about their horror inspirations; this time we’re talking about their recent (October 2023) book publications!

We talk about their books individually and together: how and why they use body horror to enhance their narratives; monsters as metaphors for grief, loss, and trauma; and the act of writing itself and how it can retraumatize or heal the writer.

If you’re anti-spoiler DON’T listen to this podcast until you buy the books (spoiler: they’re worth it). If you don’t mind spoilers, take a listen and buy the books anyway!

Snag Edenville and check out Sam’s other work: https://www.srebelein.com/

Snag Mike’s Unraveling direct from the publisher: https://www.routledge.com/Unraveling-An-Autoethnography-of-Suicide-and-Renewal/Alvarez/p/book/9781032346519

Transformative Language Arts Network: tlanetwork.org

Books:

• Kathryn Harrison, The Kiss
• R.L. Stine, Goosebumps series
• Louise DeSalvo, Writing as a Way of Healing

Movies & TV

• Jeepers Creepers, Victor Salva

• The Babadook, Jennifer Kent

• Hereditary, Ari Aster

• Fargo (Season 2), FX, Noah Hawley

Video Games:

• The Last of Us
• The Witcher 3
• God of War

This week Amanda is hosting a Transformative Language Arts (TLA) roundtable:

• Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg, founder of TLA and current chair of the TLA Network (TLAN) board
• Angie Ebba, graduate of the TLA program at Goddard; and
• Joy Zimmerman, board member of TLAN.

We discuss the role of words, especially poetry and song in our lives, particularly how we all recognize the power of words to make our experiences concrete and understood to ourselves and others.

All music in this episode is by Joy Zimmerman. Featured songs: “We Are a Bell” and “Nobel Prize” from Where the Light Lives.

Caryn developed Transformative Language Arts (TLA) as a concentration in the IMA program at Goddard. While it no longer exists as curriculum at Goddard, the nonprofit TLANetwork is holding community space for people who use written, spoken, and sung word for personal and community transformation.

One of the keystone events of TLAN is the Power of Words conference. Everyone at the roundtable will be presenting at the 2023 Power of Words conference:

• Amanda’s workshop: Using TLA to Create & Deepen Your Family Archive
• Angie’s workshop: My Body is Not a Battlefield: Illness, Body, and the Use of Metaphor
• Caryn’s panel discussion: TLA in the World: Transforming Communities Through the Power of Words
• Caryn’s workshop with Kathryn Lorenzen: The Big Picture of Your TLA Livelihood and Life
• Joy’s keynote performance with Erin McGrane: music and spoken word

2023 Power of Words conference: https://www.tlanetwork.org/conference

Transformative Language Arts Network: https://www.tlanetwork.org/

Joy Zimmerman: https://joyzimmermanmusic.com/music

Angie Ebba: http://rebelonpage.com/

Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg: https://www.carynmirriamgoldberg.com/

Minna Dubin (she/her) is a writer, mother, and educator. She graduated from the Transformative Language Arts program at Goddard where she tackled hard subjects that people aren’t supposed to talk about, from sex, race, identity to interracial relationships. Now, as a leading feminist voice on mother rage, Minna writes about mothers and what society expects of them, from career shifts to emotional calm and reserve, and how these expectations can breed a crisis of loneliness and yes, rage, in mothers.

Her forthcoming book, MOM RAGE: The Everyday Crisis of Modern Motherhood will be published in September by Seal Press and is available for preorder now anywhere books are sold.

• Pre-order from the publisher: https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/minna-dubin/mom-rage/9781541601307/?lens=seal-press
• Pre-order from Amazon: https://a.co/d/26F8Tzr

• “The Rage Mothers Don’t Talk About”: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/15/parenting/mother-rage.html
• “I Am Going to Physically Explode: Mom Rage in a Pandemic”: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/06/parenting/mom-rage-pandemic.html
• MomLists: https://momlists.tumblr.com/

• Writing the Home Workshop: https://www.amandamontei.com/store/p/writinghome

• Instagram: @minnadubin
• Website: minnadubin.com

• Angela Garbes, Essential Labor: Mothering as Social Change: https://bookshop.org/p/books/essential-labor-mothering-as-social-change-angela-garbes/17364605?ean=9780062937360
• Raised Pinay, the 5th Generation - Raising up the Mother: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/raised-pinay-2023-a-benefit-production-for-roots-of-health-tickets-608992943287

• Be our guest: https://forms.gle/A9XRF4ynvKK3uCqV9
• Join the team: https://forms.gle/LXfxKC28cMDBeoUj6

Chris Younce received a Bachelor’s Degree from Goddard College for his thesis work on Evolutionary Theory. Chris’s experience was indeed very Goddardian as he changed his focus six times from film to the psychology of sport to art to Buddhism and then looked at autism spectrum disorder before he began exploring the origins of consciousness. He dedicated the book which was spawned by this process, Cognitive Liberty, to the school. Its focus pays homage to the multi-disciplinary approach as it links the fields of psychology, biology and ecology.

Currently, Chris works as a case manager for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. He advocates for a person-centered approach which allows individuals to claim as much agency as they care to. He is also an active and proud member of the Vermont Beekeepers Association where his work in mycology has led him to champion a mushrooms for bees campaign as certain species of mushroom seem to mitigate colony collapse disorder.

Recommendations:

• Accepted (film): https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0384793/
• Wherever You Go, There You Are, Jon Kabat-Zinn
• Terence McKenna: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terence_McKenna
• Paul Stamets: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Stamets
• Hudson Valley Wine and Food Festival: https://www.hudsonvalleywinefest.com/

Buy Cognitive Liberty at bookshop.org or anywhere you get books. Support Chris’s favorite independent bookstores:

• Bear Pond Books, Montpelier: https://www.bearpondbooks.com/
• Bridgeside Books, Waterbury: https://www.bridgesidebooks.com/
• Phoenix Books, multiple VT locations: https://www.phoenixbooks.biz/

Follow Chris on Instagram: @harmonic_homesteading

Pre-order Sam’s novel Edenville on Amazon, bookshop.org or anywhere you buy books. Support Sam’s favorite independent bookstores:

• Oblong Books, Millerton & Rhinebeck: https://www.oblongbooks.com/
• Inquiring Minds, Saugerties & New Paltz: https://www.inquiringbooks.com/

Mark your calendars for the inaugural TLAN Virtual Salon on April 22, 2023 at 5:00 p.m. (ET)/2:00 p.m. (PT)! The Transformative Language Arts Network (TLAN) virtual salon will feature presenters who are active members of TLAN. Each presenter will have 5-7 minutes to present their written, spoken, or sung work followed by an artist talkback.

• Join or renew your TLAN membership: https://www.tlanetwork.org/Membership
• If you are a TLAN member and would like to present, please fill out this form: https://forms.gle/MiP1ZKM3eMLEmUyc7.

Support the Goddard Staff Union in their current strike:

• Read the press release on the strike: Goddard Staff Union votes no confidence in Dan Hocoy : to strike.pdf
• Sign the petition in solidarity: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/for-a-just-democratic-goddard-college
• If you’re local to Vermont, join the picket in the upper lot.
• Email the board and Dan Hocoy to tell them you support the staff in utilizing their rights to bargain for fair wages and dignity.
• Follow @goddardalumni on Facebook and Instagram for continuing updates.
• Sign up for the Goddard Alumni website and newsletter: https://goddardalumni.com/signup/

Poet and artist Dennis Rush grew up on a remote 100-acre tobacco farm in Kentucky. It was at the end of a gravel road, a mile from the nearest house, which was often unoccupied. He spent much of his time walking through the woods, fishing and just being in nature.

His most recent book, Mayfield is an account of his volunteer experience in Mayfield, KY helping a community which had been devastated by tornadoes. He took his two youngest kids with him to work at a food distribution center, which was a giant grocery store made of donations.

Keep up with Dennis on Instagram: @dennisrrush

Buy a signed copy of Dennis’s books: www.dennis-rush.com

Kali Meister is an established writer, public speaker, college educator, academic and actress. She is also a sensitive empath and tarot reader. She received a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Tennessee and an MFA in creative writing from Goddard College. She found her way to Goddard from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville based on the advice of the program chair Marilyn Kallet who saw Goddard as a place where she’d fit in. In Vermont, Kali found the cold but also like minded spirits such as then program director at the time Paul Selig who is himself a channel. She focused on playwriting which she sees as a kind of poetry. Her thesis play was based on her family.

A true polymath, Kali has also been a laughter yoga guide, taught reiki and done tarot reading workshops. She’s always open to new tarot reading clients from whom she learns so much about the world.

Keep up with Kali:

• Website: https://www.kalimeister.com/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kali.meister.5/
• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@kalimeister

Stephen S. Mills, award-winning author, poet and playwright had, as many of us did, a rather circuitous route to becoming a member of the Goddard community. He grew up in Indiana reading and writing. His first inspiration was the work of Gary Paulsen, writer of Hatchet and other books for young adults. He went to a small liberal arts school in the southeast corner of the state, Hanover College. After graduation, he moved to Tallahassee after being accepted by Florida State’s MFA program. As one of a very few queer people in the program, Stephen was often subjected to more personal examinations of his work. Upon earning his masters, he moved to Orlando where he taught at a for profit school. He taught mostly on-line courses for four and half years. Later, he wrote an essay which was published on The Rumpus about his experience. It was also during this time he wrote his first book, He Do the Gay Man in Different Voices, which came out six months before leaving the sunshine state for New York.

While working at an HIV outreach program, he was approached about interviewing to become part of the Goddard Faculty. He has now taught at the low-residency MFA program for three semesters and has been wowed by the supportive community of students. Stephen loves being able to mentor so many queer writers.

Stephen’s writing draws from history and pulp culture. His most recent book, Not Everything Thrown Starts a Revolution, found its inspiration in a “This American Life” episode, which looked at suicide by proxy, a phenomenon in which people would kill a child and confess in order to be executed. The first part of the book is a fictionalized version of a perpetrator/victim. The second half is set in the modern day with more personal poems that look at the criminal justice system.

In his current creative work, he’s looking at slasher films of the 70’s and 80’s for queer themes. He explores the connection the queer community has to these movies, especially in the way it allows members of the community to identify with the villains in the way in which they are othered.

• "Surviving a For-Profit School": https://therumpus.net/2013/07/17/surviving-a-for-profit-school/
• He Do the Gay Man in Different Voices: https://siblingrivalrypress.bigcartel.com/product/he-do-the-gay-man-in-different-voices-by-stephen-s-mills
• A History of the Unmarried: https://siblingrivalrypress.bigcartel.com/product/a-history-of-the-unmarried
• Not Everything Thrown Starts a Revolution: https://siblingrivalrypress.bigcartel.com/product/not-everything-thrown-starts-a-revolution-by-stephen-s-mills

• Website: https://www.stephensmills.com
• Instagram: @stephenscott22