))
Living The Next Chapter: Candid Conversations with Authors and Writers for Readers Searching for a New Read
«
»
E530 - Wendy A Horwitz - Author of Milkweed and Honey Cake - A Memoir in Ritual Moments
Manage episode 478998229 series 3309182
Content provided by Dave Campbell | Author Insights and Reader Focused Content, Dave Campbell | Author Insights, and Reader Focused Content. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Dave Campbell | Author Insights and Reader Focused Content, Dave Campbell | Author Insights, and Reader Focused Content or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://ppacc.player.fm/legal.
Episode 530 - Wendy A Horwitz - Author of Milkweed and Honey Cake - A Memoir in Ritual Moments
Raised in small-town Connecticut, educated in public schools, then Harvard and Temple Universities, I’ve had a mixed metaphor of a career. I’ve been a (happy) fish out of water: a doctoral student in psychology with an undergraduate history degree; a psychologist in pediatric medicine; a clinician among academic scholars; a social scientist working with English professors, engineers, and philosophers; a writer teaching medical students.
But I promised a mixed metaphor. My life is also an improvised, patchwork quilt of pieces gathered from sojourns in Costa Rica, Israel, Gambia, Provence, Ecuador, and the best, continuous journey of all--being a mom. Now, I teach writing workshops on Cape Cod and in Philadelphia. I’m a haphazard birder and a passionate observer of butterflies, unspoiled habitats, and turtles. Hiking, family, books, close friends, religious observance and secular ritual, music and dance: all lend my quilt color and sublime, if elusive patterns. And I’m still working on it, with clumsy stitches that depict me starting to learn the piano, and along the rough edge, a new design for my next book.
In Milkweed and Honey Cake: A Memoir in Ritual Moments, Wendy A. Horwitz shares stories about celebration, loss, change, and the best way to open a pomegranate.
Holidays delight – and disappoint. A couple marrying in the pandemic finds a surprise after a rainstorm, and a topsy-turvy search for a gravestone honors her ancestors. When a graduation is cancelled, Horwitz serves pomp and circumstance on the front porch, and through the shifting seasons of a life, amid the scramble of pet guinea pigs and birthday parties, her children add wonder and comedy to tradition.
With observations from nature, religion, and literature, Horwitz explores how ritual can exalt ordinary moments and frame the extraordinary. A blue heron, an old cupboard's scent, and the lingering feel of an engagement ring long gone prompt reflections laced with yearning and humor. Guiding us along a wooded path, to the kitchen table, in a messy garden, and under a tent reverberating with song, she traces the boundaries of ritual, considering what we do when ritual falls short, and how we might adapt each other's practices. And when the wider world seems broken, new rituals provide hope.
Lyrical and funny, thought-provoking and deeply moving, Milkweed and Honey Cake is at once a meditation on our desire for meaning and the story of a woman's lifelong efforts to create it
https://www.wendyhorwitzauthor.com/
___
https://livingthenextchapter.com/
podcast produced by: https://truemediasolutions.ca/
Coffee Refills are always appreciated, refill Dave's cup here, and thanks!
https://buymeacoffee.com/truemediaca
581 episodes
Share
