Last time I visited a class at the UPR in Humacao, more about I was so excited to meet students who are creating, whether as reactions to literature or reactions to LIFE, and I’m so happy to have been invited again!

I’m still writing this one up… lately, “the creative process” is a topic that’s been following me, something I’ve never in my life talked about (not even with other writers or artists) – or maybe it’s something I’ve taken for granted.

I decided to talk about the process of dream translation (yes, translation and not transcription) because my creative process, in most instances, relies on disturbed sleep and the left side of my brain running amok. (“Amok, amok, amok.”)

But I’ll also be clarifying some questions about the title…

Because I’m feeling generous, I’ll post a little preview.

Remember this?

It’s so perfect in every way… I’m using it to talk about the title, Stars Like Fish:

It’s a reversible image of creatures in water and outer space. You may look at it from one angle or another, and its meaning is unaltered (in the same way stars like fish or fish like stars are interchangeable).

But what is the meaning?

Does a starred sky ever meet the ocean’s edge? From our human perspective, it does. As residents of an island, we might take visits to a shoreline for granted, but we’ve all noticed the horizon, the line where the ocean ends and the sky begins (or vice versa). Under a dark night sky, however, this line is almost impossible to isolate. Michelle’s illustration shows both sky and sea, almost blending into one another, but not quite.

 

So there you go. I’d be really tickled if anyone NOT from the UPRH made it, so, here’s the flyer: