Women in the arts are often underrepresented and underpaid. @sgriest.bsky.social went on a 10-year journey to ask them how and why they choose the artist’s path despite the odds. @embodiedwunc.bsky.social

Such an honor to be in conversation with Anita Rao!

India. Rwanda. Romania. Iceland. The US. Art monks are everywhere, creating art against all odds and despite the odds. @sgriest.bsky.social @texasstandard.bsky.social

In ART ABOVE EVERYTHING, @sgriest.bsky.social wanted to explore what it means to be a woman “when our basic freedoms are being undermined or attacked throughout much of the world, particularly here at home. How can our art set us free?”

Gracias Lit Hub!

Gracias a ti, Sarah! It was a joy to talk with you.

@sgriest.bsky.social‬’s goal as a writer is to recreate as much humanity-awe on the page as possible. Humanity-awe shines through in each chapter in ART ABOVE EVERYTHING. 🤩 @southrevbooks.bsky.social‬

An honor to write about the man who ignited my love for art (my dad) for my favorite publication (Texas Observer) 💗

Thank you to infinity, Beacon Press, for sparking this decade-long endeavor to life!

Friends! ART ABOVE EVERYTHING drops next Tuesday. Among the featured artists is the one whose work has impacted me more than any other: author #SandraCisneros. Here is what she said about taking the “path of most resistance” by pursuing a life devoted to art….

Friends! Come hear the stories of global women who have placed art at the core of their existence. I'll be touring for the rest of the year, with these confirmed stops:

🧵/4: That’s when I started thinking of myself as an #ArtMonk. Finding myself single & childless on my 40th birthday, I decided that if I was to keep pursuing this ascetic path, I needed a congregation for company. So, I sent out some queries & invested in plane tickets. This book is the result.

🧵/3: Just as those hermits had taken vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience to serve God, I had renounced a 401K and a potential spouse to obediently serve a muse. They reached their exalted state through the connections forged in prayer; I, through the communal joy of performance....

🧵2: Two canonized hermits lived on the premises. It mystified me, how they spent almost the entirety of their days in their cabins, praying for the souls of the world. Gradually, though, it occurred to me that my own devotional act of writing 12 hours a day in my own cabin wasn’t far removed.

A month away from launching #ArtAboveEverything, it feels time to share the genesis of my book’s subject: Art monks. 🧵/1 Eighteen years ago, I did a series of writing residencies in a Catholic house of prayer in South Texas that required guests to take a vow of silence during their stay....

Hola everybody! Here is a chance for a free copy of 10 years of labor and love 💗

I am so looking forward to this conversation!

North Carolina! Soul-balm is heading our way. Please join us at UNC’s Donovan Lounge tomorrow at 4:30 for a reading-performance-summoning-of-the-spirit by Tim Z. Hernandez. His latest book of creative nonfiction, THEY CALL YOU BACK, is the most riveting work I have read in recent memory. Join us!

The new book I am most excited to read this year!

Hola everybody! Finally made the migration over from X. Hope you are finding peace and community amidst the chaos. Thank you for all you do 🙏🏽💗