Looking back on your history teaching night creative writing and watercolor courses, did the two disciplines/genres ever cross-pollinate in your classroom? Do you teach both watercolor and creative writing in one class as well? Can you give those of us “closet painter/writers” an example of an exercise we might use?

Interestingly, the two genres did work with each other, although never as a class taught specifically combining the two.  I’ve often said that poetry is very much like watercolor in terms of brevity, commitment (you can’t really erase watercolor; it’s a staining process) and learning to love the “accident.”  When I sit down to write a poem, I often approach it as a watercolor “wash,” a quick brushstroke of words used to capture an impression, whether it’s a visual or an emotional impression (or both).  When I did the workshop at AROHO, I had the artists/writers look around and paint what they saw, then use the “watercolor words” to write a painterly piece of writing about it.  That might make a good exercise.  In fact, the first poem I ever wrote (that wasn’t for a school assignment) was a visual impression because I didn’t have my paints with me!

Still looking at cross-pollination, does your architecture and design life come to bear on your writing life?

My novel, The Keeping Room (as yet unpublished) is based around the renovation of a house.  But, aside from that, my art/architecture background probably informs more that I realize in my writing.  My writing is very visual, and a sense of place and setting are critical to my work. 

Thinking back to the 2011 AROHO retreat, can you tell us about an idea, exercise or conversation that had either an identifiable impact upon your writing habits or became a finished piece of writing or one in process?  

Absolutely.  I began a series of poems and memoir pieces about my family and childhood, partly from Bhanu’s contributions, and partly from Breena’s and many others.  Conversations?  They happened every day at AROHO; the readings, the little snatches of conversation in the dining area, on hikes, in workshops.  The inspiration just bombards us there!  And in Summer’s workshop I had some revelations about my novel which led to a total rewrite.

Is there one specific moment or event at the retreat that sparked an insight or shift in how you perceive either your work or yourself as a writer?

I was so lucky to have been allowed to attend AROHO for the second time in 2011.  In 2009, I took a workshop with Ellen McLaughlin that had an immeasurable impact on my life.  I have ended up writing plays, having them produced, and doing an MFA in creative writing at Goddard College, as a playwright! 

In 2011, I was able to have my worth as a writer reinforced to me and being with a gathering of so many accomplished woman writers, many of whom are my age or even older, has given me so much hope and a sense of belonging.  Sometimes, particularly in this economy, having lost my career as an architect, which used to define me, it would have been easy to be lost in the solitary struggle.  After AROHO, we are a part of something meaningful that carries us for a long time.

Again, thinking back to the 2011 retreat, is there a specific woman writer who inspires/d you? If so, can you tell us something about why?

It’s impossible to single one out.  Breena, Marilynne, Mary, and Bhanu particularly penetrated my muse, but everyone contributed.  There was a naked honesty to Bhanu’s question: who is responsible for the suffering of your mother?  I thought of my mother and I thought of my daughter and I was absolutely staggered.

What’s the best advice you’ve received about writing?

Read!!!! Listen to your heart, don’t ever edit yourself during your draft process, and keep your first draft.

How would you describe your typical writing day?

No two are ever alike… I have three jobs and I’m a grad student.  My life is too chaotic.

Can you describe for us what you’re currently working on?

I’m working on my poetry collection, a collection of my short stories, and trying to find a publisher for my novel, The Keeping Room, which is about a contemporary woman who finds a letter from a young woman that a woman in the 18^th century wrote to her mother the night she thought she might die.  I’m also writing two full-length plays: one is a WWII play about GIs who traveled to war on the HMS Queen Mary and an African American GI who falls in love with a white British nurse, entitled Grey Ghost Queen; and a comedy called State of Being about a man who may or may not be dead who shows up in his living room when his wife returns from his funeral.

Lisa S. Lutwyche is a published poet and playwright.  She has taught creative writing and watercolor at community arts centers, elder care facilities, and at Cecil College in Maryland.  Lisa has a BFA in painting, a BA in Art History, and is currently working on her MFA in Creative Writing at Goddard College in Vermont.  Her poetry can be seen on the Web on the Wilmington, Delaware’s Second Saturday Poets site and, soon, on a War Poetry website in the UK.

Lisa Lutwyche was interviewed by Tania Pryputniewicz.