A Little Glow Goes A Long Way
As a younger person, I worked in many settings that gave me the opportunity to think about how to celebrate authors and their work, from hosting the Visiting Writers Series at the University of Michigan (cake, coffee, conversation, and a grand stage), to organizing author events and readings in two different independent bookstores (wine, cheese, a podium, signings), to creating a range of creative gatherings for friends and colleagues and students when their work was released.
So far, my favorite setting for launching or listening to a new book or work involves fire, soft furniture, and of course beautiful food and flowers. And favorable lighting, of course. A little glow goes a long way to set a tone.
To my mind, such elements are inherently ceremonial, or if you prefer, they connote an "occasion." If you've made something (sweat, tears, time, imagination), you will likely want to acknowledge when it is complete. You may need a rite of some kind, a way to mark the making, with reverence and maybe some friends.
Ideally, in these moments, we are comfortable, warm enough, and can settle in to enjoy the ways that words, food, friendship, and fire can draw us nearer to each other and the emotions and sensations that remind us of our tender hearts, or our big ideas, or our love of one another, and the labors of our love. In this way, we may feel more connected, a part of a larger human story.
—Holly Wren Spaulding, October 2022