Berkshire Women Write!

Phyllis Carito lives in Claverack and has been in the Hillsdale area for over 30 years. She’s an administrator at SUNY Columbia Green Community College where she also teaches creative writing, a writer, and a frequent visitor to the Bookloft. She writes  memoir, short stories, and poetry. Here’s what she had to share about the writing process:

All my writing begins and ends with my love affair with the library, my first job, and the discovery of all the stories.  In the beginning I never considered sharing my poetry or stories, and only after a friend went to the New School and began sending me copies of a literary magazine and encouraging me to send something to them did the idea seem feasible — if they could share their stories, why shouldn’t I?

This was years and many versions of poems before I went back to school for an MAW at Manhattanville College — a small program with a lot of heart — and this gift to myself changed my life.  I became an educator teaching college Composition and Creative Writing, and attending different writers’ workshops each summer where I met incredible people who understood my need to explore through writing, to communicate through poetry.  They all have been great experiences, at Manhattanville, Skidmore (NYS Writer’s Institute,) Colgate University — I recommend it to anyone who wants to immerse themselves in writing, and surround themselves with people who applaud your efforts.  

This summer I’m going to Frost’s Place in Franconia NH as an auditor.  I am ready to (feel disciplined enough) go and write for a week, and not need to be workshopped, just to share the environment. 

When my mentor suggested it was time for a book I gathered some chapbooks that I liked and saw where they were published.  I checked them out on the web and decided to write to three of them, altering the content a little in each one, with the hopes of fitting their interest.  I was delighted when Finishing Line Press accepted my work, and we are in the process right now of getting the book completed.  I can tell you more about it as it unfolds.

Carito’s new book of poetry, barely a whisper,  is forthcoming from Finishing Line Press. Copies will be available at The Bookloft.