Miranda's Writing Journey
Grandma Doris Celebration of Life Collage 2018
Grandma is in her early 20's in the pictures of her youth.
She is in her 80's with the little dog. She loved little dogs!
As a multi-genre writer, I compose prose, poetry, comic illustrations, visual narratives, photographs, and artistic collages. A lengthy epistolary memoir is my major ongoing project. With my grandma's untimely death in 2018, I started working on my more extensive project. I was grieving deeply and needed a constructive coping strategy. I thought back to my grandmother's tales of her long-distance cycling adventure after she graduated from college at 21. She rode a bicycle throughout South America for a long distance. I started thinking about these moments; then, I started going on local bike adventures, which helped me heal.
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My writing encapsulates nature, gratitude, and lasting bonds between loved ones. Thus, why the work from The Cascadia Field Guide, edited by Elizabeth Bradfield, C. Marie Fuhrman, and Derek Sheffield, inspires me. This work contains poems about art, ecology, and nature. I love Ross Gay's The Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude because gratitude assists healing when a loved one passes. Finally, the epistolary approach of Little Women by Alcott helps me use the power of letters to communicate to readers. These works inspire my more extensive projects and smaller projects simultaneously. I plan to publish poems in literary magazines as I complete my larger project about my grandma and my cycling adventures. One day, my ultimate goal is to get this large project published. ​
Feel free to browse and contact me if you're interested in my writing.
Grandma Doris and Miranda September 1, 2008 at Gene Coulon Park.
Cedar River Collage Circa Spring 2o23
ABOUT
Miranda J. Gardner is a Writing Instructor in the Upward Bound College Readiness Program at the University of Washington. Her writing ambition is fueled by a lifelong love for storytelling, especially the true stories about her grandmother’s cycling journey from Michigan to South America, as well as her passion for long-distance cycling, nature, and what women’s bodies can do. Her current work-in-progress is narrative memoir combining both her grandmother’s and her own cycling adventures. Miranda has taught Creative Writing at the University of Washington during the summer since 2020. She is earning a Master’s degree in Creative and Professional Writing at Central Washington University and will graduate in 2024. Her plan after graduation will be to complete her first major project, “A Tribute to Grandma Doris: Cycling through Time.”
Piece 1: The Cedar River
pregnant with wild
currents, furious
and dark, rages along.
The deep green of Douglas Firs
directs my eyes
to the moss that sticks
like glue to gaping
silver rocks, and the yawn
of gray sky that swallows us
as we sit in communion.
Writer's Works Admired
The Cascadia Field Guide: Art, Ecology, Poetry
The Cascadia Field Guide: Art, Ecology, Poetry edited by Elizabeth Bradfield, C. Marie Fuhrman, and Derek Sheffield (March 2023). One of my most beloved professors, Katharine Whitcomb, wrote one of my favorite poems in the anthology, "Snowberry in Drought Season."
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How the anthology applies to my writing: My grandmother was knowledgeable about the different varieties of trees, birds, flowers, and mushrooms. Cascadia's collection of poetry and illustrations inspired me, and I began to consider how to include my grandmother's love of ecology, environment, and cycling in this series of narratives and poetry I have written so far.
The Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude
Then Ross Gay's The Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude entered my writing world, too. I took inspiration from Gay and his poems in terms of structure. My favorite poem by Gay is "The Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude". I am revising this work as an imitation poem about my grandmother's life.
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How Gay's novel relates to my writing: What I adore about Gay's writing is how he deals with mourning, sadness, pain, and loss through gratitude. We see him take life's simple pleasures and use those as catalysts for healing. This is something that I do in my writing and helps me heal after my grandmother's passing in 2018.
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Little Women:
I devised a letter-writing style narrative in my grandmother's voice from Little Women. It is important to me to write off all of this joy and carefree time in my grandmother's life, mainly because of the sadness that came when she died at ninety-two years old. My grandmother experienced some trauma after taking that trip at 21, biking to Mexico and beyond. Writing in my grandmother's voice at this most joyous part of her life helps me heal and showcases a tribute to her in a way she would value and appreciate.
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How Alcott's novel informs my writing (in terms of format): I use Alcott's letter-writing format throughout my novel (in progress) as a tribute to my grandmother. This is an approach she would appreciate as she loved letter writing. This formatting adds a personal touch to the memoir as well.
Writing Club &
Book Club
Writer's Block
The definition of a writer is this: "A writer is someone who writes." Period.
You do not need to be published -- or have any writing experience at all -- to join us. ALL writers of ALL levels and abilities are welcome. This group welcomes - in fact desires - diversity. All colors, shapes, sizes, genders, beliefs, faiths, etc. are welcome here. If you were scared away from writing at any point in your life, you are safe here. If your writing has been celebrated or distributed widely, we are thrilled to have you with us, but leave any ego outside the door. We are all equal writers in this space.
The Seattle Writer's Block AWA WRITING BOOST group meets Wednesday evenings for 1.5 hours, beginning promptly at 7 p.m. It is designed to be a quick and enjoyable "kick in the pants" to keep you writing at the mid-week point. Two prompts, one break out room, one hour, DONE. FREE.
The Seattle Writer's Block Saturday Writing Group meets Saturdays from 10:30 AM to 1:30 PM both online and in person for fully vaccinated (and currently under mandate) masked writers (West Seattle location).
We also offer 5 week and 8 week certified AWA leader facilitated workshops (3-4 hours per session). See calendar.
We hold one hybrid in-person/online 2-day weekend writing event each year.
Book Club Name: ~Profound Experience Of Poetry:
Brief Description:
"Profound Experience of Poetry Book Club"
About Us:
Profound Experience is part of Shabby Doll House. We are a small press and online literary magazine. You can check out shabbydollhouse.com to find out more.
We meet every third Sunday of the month on Zoom to talk about poetry or plays and see each other's faces.
You can read the books and not show up to the meetings, or you cannot read the books and show up to the meetings. Or you can even do both.
Everyone is welcome!
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Note: This is an excellent reader's club! I will read poetry with others passionate about various poetry topics in this community. This helps to expand my writer's network too!
Professional Experience &
Education
January 2020 - current: University of Washington Upward Bound Program Writing Instructor: We assist low-income and first-generation high school students with attending university.
Education Completed:
Master of Education (Literacy)-May 2012
Washington State University, Pullman, WA
Bachelor of Arts in English & Minor in Writing- December 2008
University of San Diego, San Diego, CA
Substack
Please subscribe to my page on Substack. Substack is a simple system that lets writers publish to the web, email, and find a new and existing audience of supporters.
To learn more about me and my writing via Substack, please use my email: mirandajgh2016 or click here: Miranda J. Gardner | Substack
CONTACT
Feel free to get in touch with me for any writing or other collaborations.
Email: mirandajgh2016@gmail.com
Social Media:
FB:Miranda J. Gardner-Harmon | Facebook
LinkedIn: (26) Miranda Gardner | LinkedIn
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