How Did I Get Here? Exploring the Context of our Lives through Memoir and Poetry

press release:Leaning on his own life and work, Guy Thorvaldsen asks what it means “to explore the context of our lives through,

·         Poetry and

·         Memoir.”

·         And, if time allows, our own writing.

“Ea ch life has its own unique context, its own sea of personal, cultural, and social milieus in which we have swum and perhaps are still swimming.  Given the complexity of this journey, most people, at some point in their lives, ask the question, in the words of David Byrne of the Talking Heads, ‘Well, how did I get here?’  The recent surge of interest in DNA-based genealogy is part of this need to know, people trying to put together or pull apart the pieces of their history, their context, in search of meaning and understanding.  But science can only take you so far.

“This is where memoir and poetry come in -- writers examining the seen and unseen forces at play that have informed us, benefitted or oppressed us and, in the end, shaped us: family, mortality, gender, relationships, class, race, religion, culture, and ethnicity.”

Guy’s poetry has appeared in, among others, Alligator Juniper, Forge, Gulfstream, Magma 69 (London), Zone 3, and Poet Lore. His first full-length book, Going to Miss Myself When I’m Gone, came out in October 2017 through Aldrich Press. 

BIO:  Guy Thorvaldsen received his MFA from Vermont College and has taught writing at Madison College for 20 years. Alongside teaching he is a journeyman carpenter, husband, father, and contributing poet/essayist for community radio.