Interview Kathleen Osborne interviewing Carol Shillibeer

Art is a solitary process, and it only thrives in community.

I write poems, or paint, when I am in the silence of all the bird song and fox yipping that goes on in the meadow behind my house.

But to keep going, I read other people’s work, view other people’s art. And I workshop, teach, become a student, edit, again and again and again.

I run quite a few workshops on poetry, many through Poets & Writers. I also do a lot of one-on-one sessions to help other writers get their mass of writings into some publishable form. Other writers help me too.

(As an aside, I do not charge for anything I do. I work on the concept of gifting, and because working makes me happy.)

I only work via video link (Zoom mostly). I am really introverted and the idea of going back into a classroom is not a happy thought. I did teach for years, but after Covid, that all stopped, and I found I was glad of it.

Video workshops and editing sessions have been such a boon to me. I work with people all over the place. Such interesting people too!

If you want to be a writer, you’ll need community at some point. Unless all you want to do is journal for your own sake. That’s OK too, but it isn’t what I want to do.

If you find that scary or any other inhibitive feeling, email me. I would be happy to talk to you about it.