I'm Adalimone, and this is the Slowdown.

I was recently in Provenstown, Massachusetts, giving a poetry craft talk at the Fine Arts

Work Center.

After the event, I met a few of the poetry fellows there.

The fellowship is for emerging writers and artists, and consists of seven months of

free housing at the Fine Arts Work Center, as well as a small stipend.

By the time I made it there to speak, the fellowship was nearing its end.

Folks were already preparing for whatever upcoming plans they had, various jobs, teaching

gigs, or the great unknown.

You could feel that ANSI graduation vibe as they spoke, each of them trying to surrender

to whatever was coming next.

But what moved me most was hearing them talk about the community they built together over

the seven months of cold weather on the very tip of Cape Cod.

They had writing workshops and provided each other with deadlines and prompts.

The way they praised each other and spoke about each other's work was so admirable.

It made me think about the ways we build and foster community, especially as artists.

It's so important to find ways to encourage each other as we choose a life that's a

little outside the fold.

Provenstown is not only an artist community, but an active and flourishing LGBTQIA community.

And there's a feeling there that everyone who has decided to pave their own way to make

their own path can find a connection to Peetown.

If you permit me the cliche, it sometimes feels like the road less traveled is actually

...