Collaborations

As a writer and as a teacher, I believe that there is something both vital and true in making meaning with another person. I have been fortunate to have the opportunity to collaborate with many writers on critical projects: of my five books, just one was written by me alone. These collaborations are evident across almost all of my work: on this site, you’ll find information on my co-edited and co-authored projects under Books and Articles.

 To collaborate with a fellow artist, though, is something else altogether. I have had the privilege of bringing together my creative writing with visual artists, including two painters and two photographers as well as galleries that have asked me to write pieces to re-imagine exhibitions of visual art. 

 Here, then, you will experience sitting in an old Episcopal church through a synthesis of my own fiction paired with one of Carrie Patterson’s paintings (“Gifts”); an essay I wrote about Sue Johnson’s artistic amalgam of archival materials by Lewis Carroll and Marianne Moore held by the Rosenbach Museum in Philadelphia; creative-critical essays I wrote for three separate art exhibitions, including the Re-Generation show of work by Joseph Albers’ protégés; a collaborative piece of fiction with photographer Catherine Borg imagined around a deeply troubling Confederate memorial in Southern Maryland; and a piece of fiction I co-created with photographer Colby Caldwell, one we turned into a one-of-a-kind book, “Blink,” available here for download. 

 In the case of my collaborations with Carrie, Catherine, and Colby, our pieces evolved from joint projects we did with our students across my upper-level fiction workshops and their painting and photography classes. And, thus, the teacher became the student: engaging these collaborations alongside my students, I learned much more than I taught.