Moving Ahead

I'm sorry for being so scarce here recently. The birthday celebration extended into the weekend, and Sunday was an all-day commitment with my choir-- but a glorious one: the Missa Brevis and an anthem by contemporary British composer Jonathan Dove in the morning, followed by total immersion in William Byrd in the afternon.

Then, this week, I've been working on a grant application to the Canadian Council on the Arts, for support for a writing project. Though I wrote many grant applications for non-profit organizations, this is only the second time I've only applied for a personal grant. I didn't get the first one, a number of years ago, and I have no idea about the chances for this one. What I'm finding is that although it's a lot of work, under a tight deadline, it's been very helpful to have to write a concise description of the project. I feel like I actually know, now, what I'm trying to do!

I have to include 20-30 pages of writign samples with the application, and last night I re-read most of the posts from The Fig and the Orchid, the account I wrote here about my father-in-law's last years. It was the first time I'd read it since he died, and he came back to me so brightly and clearly through those stories, especially the recounted conversations. What a character he was! I'm so glad I wrote a lot of it down, and someday we need to collect that material with some of Jonathan's photographs and publish it. We've needed some time to go by, though.

The weather has turned cooler here, and that means the amusing sight, on the Montreal streets, of people dressed in everything from shorts and tee shirts to parkas and wool hats. As for myself, on the bike, I'm somewhere in the middle, wearing a fleece layer and a windbreaker. I did pull on some gloves one day recently...and the trees are not only starting to turn, but dropping some leaves. Autumn is moving ahead, and so, I guess, am I!

 

Comments

[Marja-Leena]

Oh, wishing much luck with getting a grant - you surely have a good chance, Beth! Grant applications certainly are a lot of work, though I don't know how it compares to a visual art one. I've applied a couple of times in the past for a Canada Council project grant without success but did manage to receive a travel grant to mount and attend an exhibition in Finland, oh my, ten years ago!

[Mary]

Good luck with the grant, Beth. I loved the Fig and the Orchid blog entries. Yes, that would make a wonderful book!

[Rachel Barenblat]

I loved reading your posts about your father-in-law. I feel as though I knew him.

I would love to read those posts again in book form, accompanied by Jonathan's photographs. Whenever you're ready to do that, I'll be glad to buy a copy.

[Jean]

Oh, good luck with the grant application, Beth!

I should think you have a very good chance, from many viewpoints. But I've watched so many friends in academia put so much work into grant applications and thought what a huge amount of psychological energy and resilience this takes - wonderful if you're successful, but more often than not, of course, the result of so much work is less than zero, a kick in the teeth that it can take much resolve not to feel undermined by.

I still think grants are wonderful and should be applied for, of course, and it would be so great and so fitting if you got this.

[Roderick Robinson]

Good job I don't depend on grants. I have written pre-summaries of my novels for various reasons but there are often wide discrepancies compared with the finished thing. In fact the bit I most enjoy is where the cast-iron plot goes all haywire, I'm tempted down a rabbit burrow and everything becomes dark and unexpected. It's a bit premature in your case but you may be surprised (as I was) if you end up offering a choice between a paperback and a Kindle download. The price ratio is about 7:1 and so choice seemed like a no-brainer; yet I discover that two out of three of my grandchildren have gone for the pricier option. Since the third grandchild is only six I may have to wait a little for his decision. Anyway, good luck with your grant. Are you able to cite your blog in support of the project? You should.

[andrea]

May I correct: it's Canada Council for the Arts. Good luck!

[elizabeth]

I'm pretty sure I said as much at the time, but here's one more vote for the Fig & the Orchid: I love those posts, expect they'd make a terrific book, and by God do I think the world needs more Syria-related stories that go beyond the heartbreak and futility of the current headlines, just now.