Tim Weed's Blog, page 5

New Cuba Travel opportunities

Hello all, just a quick note about a number of upcoming opportunities for travel to Cuba , either on programs I’ll be leading/directing or on a private small-group trip I can help you set up using the network of friends and contacts I’ve developed over many years of off-the-beaten track travel to the island. I hope some of you will take me up on it!

The first of the programs I’ll be leading is a special “friends” trip from November 28 – December 6, 2023. This is going to be informal and fun, and packed with the kind of unforgettable cultural interactions and off-the-beaten track adventures that are possible to arrange given the truly wonderful network of friends and contacts I’ve developed over the course of many years traveling to Cuba. Email me if you’re interested in these dates. I’m happy to answer any questions you may have or simply loop you in. The core group is already in place but there is still time reserve a spot!

The second “formal” opportunity is the exciting new incarnation of the Cuba Writers Program, March 8-16, 2024. This dynamic, generative workshop for writers comes with with a parallel track filled with amazing Cuban cultural experiences and adventures. This program is also open to any non-writing family or friends. Here’s the link for info and application instructions. Feel free to email me if you have questions, or use the form on the website.

If you’re not sure whether or not you’re interested, here are a few relevant links to explore:
Details on Cuba travel and testimonials from past travelers.
A photo diary of a recent (January 2023) Cuba trip.
An essay I wrote awhile ago about my long love affair with the island.

If you’re not available for the above dates but would like to explore the idea of designing a custom, independent small-group trip to Cuba for your own circle of friends and family, don’t be shy about getting in touch. I’ve set up many of these over the years and they always result in amazingly rewarding, life-changing experiences.

Below is a selection of random pics from past Cuba trips to give you a visual sense of the wide range of experiences one might encounter . . .

 

Good news from the 92nd Annual Writer’s Digest Writing Awards

Happy to report that two unpublished short stories have earned nods in the Writer’s Digest Annual Writing Competition (Eighth Place & Honorable Mention, Mainstream/Literary Short Story category). The stories, “Under the Highway” and “Seabirds,” are part of a collection, Tickets to the Reckoning, that’s currently being shopped around to publishers. Hopefully it will be available for your reading pleasure soon!

“Traffic light sign in flood“/ CC0 1.0

New novel manuscript a finalist for the 2023 Prism Prize for Climate Literature

Honored to receive this very good news over the weekend. The manuscript is in the process of being shopped to publishers by the wonderful Deborah Schneider of Gelfman Schneider Literary Agents. Let’s hope this gives it a boost, because I’d love to get it out into the world for you all to read!

New novel a finalist for the 2023 Prism Prize for Climate Literature

Honored to receive this very good news over the weekend. The manuscript is in the process of being shopped to publishers by the wonderful Deborah Schneider of Gelfman Schneider Literary Agents. Let’s hope this gives it a boost, because I’d love to get it out into the world for you all to read!

Diary of a recent writing program in Cuba (with photos)

This was a special trip for me, as it combined two of my passions: writing and experiential/educational travel. It was the second annual Havana residency of the Newport MFA in Creative Writing, and I had the distinct pleasure of co-running the literary aspects with a friend and distinguished fellow novelist whose company I very much enjoy: Danielle Trussoni, author of Angelology, The Puzzle Master (forthcoming from Random House), and numerous other books, and the horror-lit columnist for the The New York Times.

Danielle and yours truly hard at work at the Finca Vigía

In addition to being a writing program this trip was also a cultural trip to Cuba, full of the kind of rich, special visits and encounters that are possible to arrange with the help of an amazing Havana ground crew, which in this instance was headed up by a talented young Cuban guide and fixer, Miguel Espinosa.

Miguel with group on an observation platform at Salinas de Brito, Cienaga de Zapata N.P.

I thought it might be nice for those who participated (and really anyone else out there who is considering a non-touristy trip to Cuba) to have a day by day summary of events. ¡Buen provecho!

Day One.

Flights arrive. Meet at our main casa in Habana Vieja for orientation & intros, Group dinner at one of Havana’s many delicious and atmospheric paladares (private restaurants). It begins!

Day Two.

We explore Habana Vieja via bici-taxi, which is a fun way to see regular Cuban neighborhoods sort of incognito, or at least without standing out the way a large group of walking tourists would. We visit a neighborhood “agro” produce market, a shop selling items used in Afro-Cuban religious worship (70% of Cubans are practitioners), and stop to talk about the system of “libros de abastecimiento,” the subsidized food-rationing program that’s been in place since the just after the triumph of the Revolution in the early sixties.

After this, a very special visit to the Cuban collection at the Museo de Bellas Artes with my old friend Ortelio, a distinguished art historian who heads up the museum’s education department. Spectacular!

A relatively light lunch at Cinco Esquinas, a pleasant streetside café near the museum, followed by our first writing workshop up on the lovely shaded terrace of our casa—and, for non-writing participants, a visit to the home/studio of Mabel Poblet, a stunningly talented installation artist whose work is already gracing public spaces and distinguished collections around the world.

Jessica Horowitz photo

Later we meet up on the terrace of our main casa for cocktails and an illustrated lecture on Cuban history, followed by dinner up on the terrace of Ivan Chef Justo, one of Havana’s finest paladares. I feel like the trip has gotten off to a good start!

Day Three.

Morning workshop for the writers and a trip to the Colón Necropolis for everyone else: Havana’s haunting “city of the dead” whose little avenues are lined with exquisite tombs and statuary in Carrara marble, much of it cracked and in decay from years of exposure to the sun and the island’s Caribbean-maritime climate.

Group lunch at Fusterlandia, where the entire neighborhood has been made into a whimsical ceramic work of the imagination by internationally famous artist Miguel Fuster. The lunch is damn good too; today we had “guajo” (wahoo), caught the day before just off the north coast by the artist’s son, Alex.

Jessica Horowitz photo Sam and Anabel with Miguel

Afterwards we head back into Habana Vieja for a specially organized visit to a rehearsal at the Lizt Alfonso school of dance. It’s hard to express how incredible it is to visit such accomplished young artists in their own working space. Witnessing the accomplishment and joy that is the result of so much applied hard practice as well as talent is a deeply inspiring thing—perhaps especially for those of us who aspire to creative accomplishments of our own.

We finish the day with pizza and a faculty reading up at La Cabaña fortress for pizza, seven-year-old rum, and a faculty reading. We stick around for the famous Cañonazo ceremony, commemorating the nightly cannon shot that used to signal the closing of the gates and the pulling of a boom chain across the harbor, back in the days when Havana was a walled city besieged by English pirates.

Stasia with Havana in the background

Day Four.

This morning we visit the house of Adrián, a Babalawu, or high priest, of the Afro-Cuban religion commonly known as santería. In cheerful and measured tones he sketches out a clear and fascinating insider’s look at the religion, which is based on Yoruba deities or orishas associated with aspects of the human character and various natural elements. Santería is a nature-based and highly inclusive spiritual practice; as it was strictly forbidden for long periods of Cuban history it became syncretized to Catholicism, widely practiced in secret at the household level. The Afro-Cuban religions are far too complex to give their full due here, but again, as they’re practiced at home by around 70% of the population, they’re absolutely central to understanding the island’s life and culture.  

There are many “articulos religiosos” stores in Havana selling supplies for the practice of santería and other Afro-Cuban religions. And they do a very brisk business!

After this we attend another inspiring rehearsal/performance, this one from a brilliantly dynamic flamenco/Afro-Cuban fusion company known as Habana Compás. Soaringly beautiful and impossible to describe, and like the dance school yesterday, deeply inspiring. We leave with a feeling of energy, inspiration and durable joy.

A great traditional Cuban lunch at Doña Eutimia, one of Havana’s oldest and best paladares. Then the writers meet on the terrace for another workshop while the cultural group heads to Vedado for what is by all accounts a fun and informative Art Deco Tour organized by our amazing Havana ground team.

The Bacardi building, a Havana art deco masterpiece

Back up on the terrace Danielle gives a fascinating craft talk on novel openings, followed by an illustrated lecture by yours truly on Hemingway in Cuba. The group then splits up for independent dinners. One jolly little crew heads out to one of my all-time favorite Havana watering holes, the eccentric and extremely atmospheric Café Sia Kara. The amazing house jazz trio has the night off, so we settle for a pair of excellent vocalists accompanied by a pianist performing their original and dynamic array of Cuban standards, along with a bit of Edith Piaf. Super fun!

Day Five.

This morning we visit Finca Vigía, Hemingway’s estate a twenty minute drive from Havana that was his principal residence for more than two decades.

Susan and Danielle at the Finca Vigía

It’s even more magical than usual today in that we’ve received permission to conduct an on-site book discussion of The Old Man & the Sea, which turns out to be a pleasant and lively conversation incorporating not just the writers but the entire group. If you haven’t re-read this novella recently, I highly recommend it. It’s a towering work of literature certainly, but also just a highly enjoyable read page to page and an incredibly life-affirming one too in these days of global environmental crisis. Read it again and I think you’ll see what I mean. Especially if you’re planning a trip to Cuba!

We stop by La Terraza de Cojímar, the real-life setting for the book, which is unchanged from the 1950s when Hemingway was a regular here and truly stands as one of the great physical landmarks of world literature.

Jessica Horowitz photo A very famous literary view

After a deliciously authentic Cuban country lunch at the paladar El Ajiaco, we load up for the two and a half hour journey south and east to Playa Larga, the small fishing village at the north end of the Bay of Pigs that is to be our home for the next three days. Upon arrival, we move into our beachside casas and celebrate our arrival with a delicious fresh seafood dinner on the porch overlooking the bay. Paradise found!

Day Six.

First thing this morning part of the group goes on a bird walk in the eastern section of the Cienega de Zapata National Park accompanied by my good friend, local biologist and park ranger Kiko. There are a lot of amazing birds out here! But look at this morning’s most notable sighting, a tocorrorro, or Cuban trogon. Nice one, am I right?

We head over to a place called Caleta Buena for lunch and snorkeling. Danielle leads us in an excellent generative writing exercise and we relax and enjoy one of the most beautiful spots on this part of the coast. The color of this water on this part of the coast always astounds me, though it makes sense given the character of the greater ecosystem. More on this tomorrow.

Back at our lovely casas on the beach I give a craft talk on sympathetic characters, then it’s cocktails and relaxing independent dinners. The pace of life is nice and slow here on the island’s Caribbean coast. Playa Larga is a beautiful spot, a good place to reflect, meditate, write, and/or simply enjoy life moment-by-moment.

The eponymous beach at Playa Larga Judith, Maria, Danielle, and Katrina enjoying their morning coffee

Day Seven.

Today we travel deep into Cienaga de Zapata National Park with our knowledgeable friend Kiko. This is a beautiful national park and an important one, encompassing the largest protected mangrove area in the entire Caribbean basin. Mangroves are essential to tropical ecosystems—they act as a filtration system, creating the crystalline-azure waters we’ve been enjoying these last few days, and are also an essential nursery for the small fish, crustaceans, and other life that form the base of the food chain in this stunningly rich ecosystem.

Our first stop is a place called las Salinas de Brito, one of this hemisphere’s best spots for observing migratory and endemic avian life. I know that not everyone is a birder so I will resist the temptation to put ALL my bird pics here, though here are several.

Little blue heron American flamingos Magnificent frigatebird Neotropic cormorant Reddish egret Cuban black hawk

I could go on, but I won’t. Suffice it to say that even the non-birders were impressed, and dare I say even awed, by all the amazing creatures we saw and how many of them there were populating this landscape (more than 40 species in the end, over two days).

From las Salinas we embarked on an adventure deeper into the Caribbean wilderness by poleboat.

Kiko and crew on the other poleboat

Our destination is the remote wilderness island known as Cayo Venado. Traversing the small cayo on foot we have a chance to observe at close quarters two endemic Cuban species in the wild, a reptile, the Cuban iguana, and a mammal, the Cuban jutía.

Cuban ground iguana Jutía

The crossing by poleboat was also amazing: it’s a unique and striking landscape, a vast stretch of clear shallow water peppered with little islands that is, to me, like nowhere else in the world.

Lunch at Paladar Don Alexis! Alexis is an old friend, an amazing cook and host, and a blazing supernova of good energy. Needless to say, on a trip where we’ve enjoyed a ridiculous number of delicious group meals, this is one of the best: crab, snapper, lobster, as fresh as it gets and cooked to perfection by Alexis himself on his wood-fired grill.

Another excellent craft talk by Danielle on the life and habits of a novelist, followed by cocktails and a truly stunning reading by our writers, followed by a final grand buffet out on the porch overlooking the beach. Tomorrow, it’s back to Havana for one more day before we scatter with the wind.

Day Eight.

A generative writing workshop starts off the morning. It’s very fun to see writers at work on the beach, and I look forward to hearing the amazing words that everyone will share with us later in the day back in Havana.

For now, though, we head up to Palpite and the amazing Korimakao community arts project, where a group of resident artists conduct a year-round training program for talented at-risk youth from across the island, many from the poorer eastern provinces of Guantánamo, Granma, etc. They have studios in music, dance, theater, and visual arts, and what they do with it is very cool.

Every year, from scratch, they compose and create a theatrical/musical/dance “spectacle” that they bring to the poorer communities around the Peninsula de Zapata and beyond. It’s really an amazing project; we got to visit both the music and dance studios to witness the early stages of elements of the spectacle coming together. It’s impossible to capture how inspiring this is, from both a creative and a cultural standpoint. I love this place; the mission, the reality, the brightly blazing inspiration emanating from the young artists in residence.

From here, we walk up the block to a highly secret undisclosed location, where we had the life-altering treat of multiple close encounters with the smallest bird in the world, the bee hummingbird. Lots of other species as well. I would tell you more, but I’d have to kill you.

The bee hummingbird (zun-zun)

From there it’s back to Havana for an afternoon of final explorations and a bit of strategic shopping (rum and cigars mostly, but also some antique art-deco jewelry, a new suitcase, and a few other incredible finds). And then our final night out, which included a raucous convoy in bright red (and one pink) old “yank tank” convertibles from the forties and fifties, followed by a life-changing private concert in the art studio of a distinguished artist with a jazz trio featuring one of Cuba’s most famous jazz musicians (whose name must remain unsaid for reasons I won’t go into here). 

Stasia and Scott got the pink one! Our convoy passing the Capitolio

This was followed by a spirited and somewhat decadent last supper at San Cristóbal, one of the city’s greatest paladares. Barack and Michelle dined here on their trip, and I once shared a side room with Sigourney Weaver, not to name-drop. And we had more fun!

Suffice to say it was of the best nights ever with a group in Havana. And that’s saying quite a lot.

Day Nine.

We scatter with the wind, fortified with inspiration and joyful memories of adventure, companionship, inspiration, and a trip well spent.

If you’re interested in participating in a future version of this program, or if you’re interested in exploring other similar opportunities for creative and/or custom-arranged independent travel in Cuba, send me a message.

Yours truly, with Maria

New short fiction up at Pangyrus

‘Today a flock of crows has gathered. Half a dozen of the birds with their glossy blue-black feathers, come to peck at beetles he supposes, or some other small insect involved in the decomposition of dead matter. He strides up to the crows, brandishing his cane.

“Bugger off, now! This is a burial site, not a feeding place for scavengers!”

The crows tilt their heads to stare up at him. Their obsidian eyes are insolent, almost bored-looking, by the sight of the heavy filigreed cane-head whistling through the air above them.

“Very well, then. But don’t say I didn’t give you fair warning.”

He takes careful aim and swings. The crows flap off, but one wheels, cawing and swooping belligerently back down at him. He aims the cane and swings again, and this time he feels the jolt of an actual connection. The crow lets out a low grunt as it flips to the ground, one black wing jutting out from its broken body as it struggles to get up from the hemlock needles.

He brings the cane-head down on the crow’s skull; it collapses with an audible crunch, like a boiled egg. He draws the blade and skewers the creature’s broken body, walking it up into the forest where he digs a little trench in the sodden ground, kicks some leaves over it, and wipes the blade clean.

That’s more like it now, he says to himself, sheathing the blade as he walks down toward the house. You just have to confront them one by one.“

Read the whole story here. Listen to a brief audio piece about the historical figure who inspired the story here.

New three-part class offered at The Skills: Sentence-Level Music

Next up, new writing craft series at The Skills. I’m pretty excited about this: The Skills is an on-line coaching/learning platform somewhat similar to MasterClass; they started out mostly in sports and have some pretty well-known instructors involved, including Michael Phelps, Maria Sharapova, and Shaun White. The classes or “group lessons” are on-line and open to the public, wherever you happen to be on the planet; you can either attend live or watch a recording on your own time. My first offering is a three-part series called “Sentence Level Music,” beginning on September 17:

This is a great investment for working writers looking to take your prose up to the next level, anyone wanting to jumpstart or return to a practice of creative writing, and really anyone interested in refining your skills in high-impact writing. Give the first session a try: I promise you’ll be glad you did!

For anyone interested, here are more detailed descriptions for each group lesson:

Sentence-Level Music I: The Core Qualities of Great Sentences (September 17, 10am PST)

Most writers produce good sentences, but few produce consistently great ones. Members of this club tend to be authors of some notoriety; the purpose of this three-part virtual lesson is to nudge ourselves a bit closer to that level. In Part I we’ll break down a selection of great sentences in an attempt to discover what makes them effective. We’ll look at such topics as the importance of economy, specificity, and musicality, the uses of parallelism, and repetition for rhythmic emphasis. Brief writing exercises will help integrate our observations in the interest of endowing our own sentences with greater clarity, vividness, substance, and impact.

Sentence-Level Music II: Sentence-Level Suspense & Cumulative Syntax (September 24, 10am PST):

In Part II of this three-part virtual lesson intended to increase your skill in sentence-level prose, we’ll begin with the surprisingly useful concept of the proposition as the basic building block of sentences. From there we’ll turn to building our skills in establishing sentence-level suspense, serial constructions, and the broadly underestimated power of cumulative syntax to capture the distilled meaning that is an essential characteristic of gripping prose. Brief writing exercises will help integrate our observations in the interest of harnessing the capabilities of the sentence to enrich and expand the range and musicality of our own writing.

Sentence-Level Music III: Making Sentences that Sing (October 1, 10AM PST)

Language is the paint; sentences are the brush strokes. The best painters are the ones who’ve become so good with the brush that they paint without thinking and in a style that can be none but their own. In the third installment of this three-part virtual lesson we’ll go beyond core principles to explore the sublime potentialities of the sentence. We’ll look at the ways in which great sentences can “sing the meaning of themselves,” and explore methods for varying sentence length to create mesmerizing rhythms and evoke specific emotions. A final writing exercise will help to integrate what we’ve learned across all three lessons, demonstrating a new facility with the art and music of sentence-writing.

Read more and/or sign up for a session here. And check out the other topics offered at The Skills; I’m thinking of taking a tennis lesson myself. I definitely need one!

Announcing new travel programs

In the works are several new small-group trips abroad:

November 30 – December 7, 2022: Informal “Family & Friends” trip to Cuba (Havana, Cienfuegos, Playa Larga – contact by email for more info)

January 7 – 15, 2023: Newport MFA Writing Workshop in Cuba (Havana & Playa Larga: open to non-MFA writers on a first-come, first served basis)

April 10 – 17, 2023: Art & Cuisine of Oaxaca, Mexico (further details will be posted here when they’re available)

If you’re interested in learning more about any of these travel programs, just shoot me an email or use the contact page .

If none of these work with your schedule but this kind of trip IS of interest and you don’t want to wait another year (more or less) for one of these update emails to hit your inbox, please feel free bookmark the frequently updated “Upcoming” page.

To explore ideas about creating custom trips for small groups of family, friends, educational institutions, etc, again, just reply to this email or send me a note through the “Contact” page.

Three stories short-listed for the Tobias Wolff Award in Fiction

Received a nice bit of good news today: three of the stories in my collection-in-progress (working title: Tickets to the Reckoning) were chosen as finalists in the Tobias Wolff Award for Fiction (judged blind, sponsored by Bellingham Review). This is the first time multiple stories of mine have had that distinction in any contest, and this is a prestigious one. I’ll take it as a good omen! 

New stories short-listed for the Tobias Wolff Award in Fiction

Received a nice bit of good news today: no fewer than three of the stories in my collection-in-progress (working title: Tourists at the Reckoning) were chosen as finalists in the Tobias Wolff Award for Fiction (judged blind, sponsored by Bellingham Review). This is the first time multiple stories of mine have had that distinction in any contest, and this is a prestigious one. I’ll take it as a good omen!