Hi everyone!

On Thursday, I begin my trip to Yaddo, where I’ll have a four-week residency to work on the libretto for Common Room (and possibly a second libretto)! I’ll try to post occasional postcards while I’m there, including photos and project updates. If you’re not familiar with this particular artists’ colony, check it out here, and take a look at press photos here.

Guerilla Opera’s Summer Libretto Labs programs are now open for applications!

Please share with anyone you think might be interested. All classes are on Zoom, and we’re had participants from Tasmania and Scotland in addition to the US and Canada!

Session 1, Intro to Libretto-Writing, runs once a week for 4 weeks.

Applicants should specify whether they prefer Tuesday evenings from 8-10 Eastern or Thursday afternoons from 3-5 Eastern. The Tuesday cohort meets June 9, 16, 23, & 30 from 8-10pm ET; the Thursday cohort meets June 11, 18, 25, & July 2 from 3-5pm ET. All classes are on Zoom.

Session 1 focuses on the fundamentals of writing text to be sung.

—Learn the necessary vocabulary for writing text to be sung.

—Get a thorough grounding in how the creation, development, and production process work in opera, musicals, and song.

—Experiment with different narrative modes.

—Explore resources for researching topics you want to write about.

—Practice writing and editing your own work; and engage in group feedback using Liz Lerman’s Critical Response Process.

—We’ll also talk about the industry and the issues it faces, and what it means to be an activist artist.

Session 1 participants should expect to spend 3-5 hours a week on reading and writing assignments. 

Session 2, Writing the Libretto Scene, runs once a week for four weeks.

Applicants should specify whether they prefer Tuesday evenings from 8-10 Eastern or Thursday afternoons from 3-5 Eastern. The Tuesday cohort meets July 7, 14, 21, & 28 from 8-10pm ET; the Thursday cohort meets July 9, 16, 23, & 30 from 3-5pm ET. All classes are on Zoom.

Session 2 focuses on creating and developing a complete scene or scenes.

—Learn techniques for outlining and scaffolding a narrative and methods of assessing the success of your goals in arias, songs, and other segments of your scene and the scene overall.

—Learn how to build and resolve narrative tension.

—Create and develop characters and contexts and express emotions; and take vocalists and vocality into consideration as you write.

—Learn approaches to editing and revising your work; working with composers and performers; and identifying and developing your personal aesthetic as an activist artist writing for the voice.

—We’ll study a number of recent libretti; engage in critique using Liz Lerman’s Critical Response Process; and discuss current issues in the industry in-depth.

Session 2 participants should expect to spend 5-7 hours a week on reading and writing assignments.

Book Reviews

I’ve got reviews of new books on my site here. In brief, organized from 5-1 stars:

Fiction

4 Janes by Marian Yee. 5/5

Ghoul by Kasey Iris. 5/5

Lonely Deaths Lie Thick as Snow 1 by Hajime Inoryu. 5/5

Gigs by Mark Mosedale. 5/5

The Unicorn Hunters by Katherine Arden. 5/5

The Sourdough Compendium by A.G. Slatter. 5/5

The Last Day of H.P. Lovecraft by Romuald Giulivo. 5/5

House of Margins by Tlotlo Tsamaase. 5/5

Gender Queer: The Annotated Edition by Maia Kobabe. 5/5

The Night Pool by Lauren Lee Smith. 4/5

The Dragon Has Some Complaints by John Wiswell. 4/5

The Witches of Cambridge by Alice Hoffman. 4/5

The Cutting Garden by Darcy Van Poelgeest. 2/5

Memories of Giselle by Katia Vecchio. 2/5

Massif by Garth Nix. 1/5

Woodstake by Darin S. Cape. 1/5

Non-fiction

The Fallen by Louise Brangan. 5/5

Black Film by David F. Walker. 1/5