Burnside posted an essay of mine called “In the Bathtub with a Jazz Musician and a Beat Poet.” It’s a true story.
Tag Archives: Burnside Writers Collective
Photos of the Burnside Writers Collective at FFW
26 Apr
front, right: Jordan Green, Editor in Chief.
middle row, left to right: Kim Gottschild, managing editor; Diane Nienhuis contributer (and personal website)
back row, left to right: Stephanie Nikolopoulos, visual arts editor; Larry Shallenberger, contributor (and personal website)
left to right: Larry Shallenberger, contributor; Kim Gottschild, managing editor; me.
Left to right: Me, Diane Nienhuis contributer; and Larry Shallenberger, contributer
I had such a fun time hanging out with the Burnside Writers Collective at the Festival of Faith & Writing! Some of them I hadn’t seen in years, some I saw at the last Festival, some I saw when they last came through New York, and some I met only for the first time at the Festival even though I’d been working with them for years. Allof them are amazingly talented writers with huge hearts and are loads of fun.
While I was “working the booth” (fancy speak for chatting with all the cool writers and editors that stopped by our table at the Festival of Faith & Writing), I talked with a lot of people who were intrigued by the concept of a collective. Burnside Writers Collective is not just a website. We’re not just individual writers posting articles. We’re a collective. A team. Our work is collaborative, both in the sense that there are a lot of people dedicated to behind-the-scenes work to make it possible for the website to exist and exist well, and in the sense that all of our individual work and varied opinions adds up to something bigger than just ourselves. We’re also a community. Writers, editors, and readers share with each other, get to know each other, meet each other.
Writing is such a solitary endeavor. It suits many of us because we’re introverted. Almost everyone I spoke to claimed to be an introvert, meaning we get our energy from alone time rather than in the public. It does not mean that everyone is shy, though. A festival full of introverts is still boisterous, is still loud, is still frenetic. Maybe it’s because we’ve finally lifted our faces from our books, and our eyes are no longer glazed over from the glare of a computer screen. We’ve emerged to find kindred spirits in other writers–and it feels good! Since so many of us spend our days and nights writing, alone, we are oftentimes looking for community. That’s what makes Burnside Writers Collective so attractive. The people who write for and read Burnside tend to come back again and again, to stick around and join the conversation, to share their dissenting opinions, their encouragement, their feelings. That said, we’re always looking for new writers! As the visual arts editor, I’m looking for people who can write about arts trends, review new exhibits at galleries, interview artists, and share their art. Email me at snikolop {@} alumna.scrippscollege.edu if you’re interested.
I miss the Burnsiders already…. Looking forward to seeing you all at the next Festival of Faith & Writing!
Here’s Larry’s “Brain Dump” on FFW.
Note: This article was edited to include names of people and Larry’s Brain Dump post.
Church Hopping at the Festival of Faith & Writing: Calvin College Chapel
17 AprI’m getting excited for the Festival of Faith & Writing!! I’m so looking forward to catching up with all my friends from the Burnside Writers Collective, some of whom I haven’t seen in years and others whom I’ve never met before. We’ll have a booth so please do stop by and say hello! I’m the visual arts editor for Burnside, and I’m always looking for new writers and cool artists whose work we can feature on the site. If you’re interested, let’s chat at the Festival.
If you’re going — or just want to live vicariously through this blog — you might be interested in the Church Hopping column I wrote up after our last trip to the Festival. Some of the panels and Q&As are held in the Pizza Hut Chapel, as Diane called it.
Burnside commentary:
Kim Gottschild: “I liked the chapel’s architecture. What I found particularly interesting was the pergola type structure that lined the inside of the sanctuary like an overhang. Together with the beautiful view of the budding trees, it made me feel like I was sitting in a garden setting, the outside having been brought in. I also loved the light feel of the wooden interior. Overall, the interior atmosphere felt natural, light and airy, and I felt like I could breathe. And Mary Karr’s interview only enhanced that, as listening to her always gives me permission to be human.”
Penny Carothers: “I liked the chapel, too. I liked the inclusive feel, the feeling of being surrounded by others, not just staring at the dais. I also appreciated how the dais was almost in the center of the room. I liked how light it was.”
Cary Campbell Umhau: “Well, I hate to be a naysayer but I found it cold. I wanted a cozy corner, not an exposed openness. I’m sure that says something antisocial and awful about me, but I wanted to flee! I have to say I was swayed a little by Diane saying that it’s sometimes referred to as the Pizza Hut Chapel (Diane, am I misquoting you?). Is it bizarre that I preferred the ‘Undercroft’ of cinderblock (and the bathrooms were nearby too; handy with all the coffee I was downing), and I loved hearing Lisa Samson down there.”
Diane Nienhuis: “Cary, you quoted correctly!”
You can read the rest of Church Hopping: Calvin College Chapel here.
Clip: Separation Sunday
7 Apr“Father, can I tell your congregation how a resurrection really feels?”
Sin and salvation.
Death and resurrection.
Hoodrats and comeback kids.
Parties and confession booths.
The Hold Steady’s Separation Sunday: indie rock’s Easter music.
Clip: Paintings of the Crucifixion
6 Apr
In light of Good Friday, I’m reposting “Paintings of the Crucifixion,” originally published on Burnside last year.
A couple years ago there was an exhibit called Spanish Painting from El Greco to Picasso: Time, Truth, and History at The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City. The exhibit paired old masters with modern painters, according to theme: knights, ghosts, ladies, bodegones, landscapes of fire, and so forth. It was an impressive collection of artwork that spoke to how Truth transcends time.
Frank Lloyd Wright designed the museum in such a way that museum-goers wind their way up through exhibits as opposed to being sectioned off, floor by floor, and consequently there are heightened feelings of momentum and progress as one climbs closer to the top of the museum. At the pinnacle of the museum during the Spanish Painting exhibit there was a section devoted entirely to paintings of the Crucifixion.
It is probably the most intense and haunting collection of artwork I have ever witnessed. I have seen many paintings of the Crucifixion over the years, but standing in an entire room of them is overwhelming. I felt uncomfortable. I felt sick. I left trying to push it out of my mind.
You can read the rest and see visuals here.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
17 Mar
Everyone’s Irish on Saint Patrick’s Day! Actually, my mom and I often get mistaken for Irish. It must be our fair Swedish skin and eyes. I even once got a letter addressed to Nik O’Lopoulos. Yep.
Here’s a couple of St. Patrick’s Day-related links for you:::
- On my last trip to Ireland, I got to visit St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin. Fun facts: Benjamin Guinness — yes, of beer fame — funded the reconstruction of the cathedral and Jonathan Swift (author of Gulliver’s Travels) was dean here. Find out more in my Church Hopping article.
- Then, this summer I took a group Church Hopping to St. Patrick’s Cathedral here in New York City. You can read about that fun experience here.
- One of my colleagues at Burnside, wrote this interesting article about the meaning of hair when Sinéad O’Connor tweeted that she hated Ireland.
- Here’s a review of Irish author Colum McCann’s Dancer, also from a colleague on Burnside.
- You know how four-leaf clovers are supposed to be lucky? Well, someone in Japan found a 56-leaf clover.
- This is a pretty four-leaf clover necklace.
- Have you ever heard this Irish blessing? It’s so beautiful, and it always reminds me of the Rebecca St. James song “Abba Father.”
- Going back to Guinness, the beer company is aiming to set a record for the world’s biggest St. Patrick’s Day party. Sounds fun!
Happy St. Patrick’s Day, everyone!!
Clip: Maurizio Cattelan: All
17 Feb
Toe-numbing temperature didn’t stop the line from snaking past the Guggenheim and spilling out onto the residential sidewalk of the Upper East Side. It was Pay What You Wish Saturday. We’d wait in the frigid January night for that rate. It would give us the chance to meditate on the work of Frank Lloyd Wright, the museum’s architect.
No, it would give us reason to complain. About the cold. About the wait. I don’t even know what we’re standing in line for! my sister finally admitted out of frustration.
We were standing in line for Maurizio Cattelan: All.
Read the rest of the story on Burnside.
Clip: Carsten Höller: Experience
10 Feb
At the local carnival there was always some kid who freaked out and made the wiry man who manned the ride’s controls stop the rickety ride mid-spin.
I was that kid.
Read the rest of Carsten Höller: Experience on Burnside.
Clip: Coffee and Portraiture and the Associations We Make
27 Dec
Associations are revealing. This morning, as I was drinking a cup of horrid office coffee, my brain leapt from the specific brand and flavor of coffee my mom drank when I was growing up to a seemingly unrelated bit of biographical information about a photographer I’d researched while working on a blog post on his efforts to Save the Whales. The photographer is Louie Psihoyos, the film director of The Cove, the Oscar Award-winning feature documentary that uncovers the horrifying mass slaughter of dolphins. Psihoyos is from the Midwest, as is my mom (he was born in Iowa, my mom in Minnesota), and his immigrant parent came from the Peloponnesus, the same region of Greece my dad grew up in and where both of my parents now live. That wasn’t the association I made this morning, though. Instead, I was recalling that I myself had recently taken a photograph of my coffeemaker and a bag of hazelnut Eight O’Clock Coffee, while photographing some other food in my kitchen, and that I always associate hazelnut Eight O’Clock Coffee with my mom. From there, I remembered I’d recently read about a photographer who’d photographed people with their possessions. At first I didn’t even remember that the photographer was Psihoyos. As I started to write the blog post about how I associate coffee with my mom, I kept thinking about the significance of Psihoyos photographing people with their possessions and what the objects we’re associated with impart about our identity.
Read the rest of the article on Burnside Writers Collective.
Yiasou!
Stephanie Nikolopoulos is a writer, editor, writing teacher, and speaker based in New York City.
She is the coauthor, with Paul Maher Jr., of "Burning Furiously Beautiful: The True Story of Jack Kerouac's 'On the Road.'"
You can email her at stephanie_701 {@} yahoo.com
Stephanie Nikolopoulos 
