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Crescent Dragonwagon

GROWING COMPASSION: SUICIDE, “SUICIDE WIDOWS”  & THE ANTHONY BOURDAIN AFFECT

GROWING COMPASSION: SUICIDE, “SUICIDE WIDOWS” & THE ANTHONY BOURDAIN AFFECT

By Crescent Dragonwagon

IF YOU’VE LOST A PARTNER TO SUICIDE, EXPECT TO REVISIT THAT PECULIARLY GUILT-TAINTED SORROW EVERY TIME A CELEBRITY EXITS LIFE BY HIS OR HER OWN HAND, OR ON THAT DEATH’S ANNIVERSARY. MAYBE IT’S TIME TO GROW SOME COMPASSION, ALL AROUND. Anthony Bourdain’s suicide four years ago hit me hard. Perhaps this was partly because Bourdain and I work / worked… Read More

Filed Under: #WidowhoodWednesday, Fearless Living, grief, self-understanding, personal growth, widowhood, writing Tagged With: Anthony Bourdain, cornbread, David R. Koff, grief, suicide, suicide widows, Until Just Moistened

MOTHERLESS MOTHER’S DAY: GROWING SELF-COMPASSION

MOTHERLESS MOTHER’S DAY: GROWING SELF-COMPASSION

By Crescent Dragonwagon

MOTHER’S DAY, IN ITS INSISTENCE ON SENTIMENT, BIOLOGY, AND CONSUMERISM, HAS ALWAYS DIMINISHED MOTHERING. FOR MOTHERING HAS ALWAYS BEEN MUCH BIGGER THAN MOTHERHOOD. AND IT TRANSCENDS REPRODUCTION. EVEN GENDER. Being a mother, and having a mother, even when it works beautifully, even in times of general robust public health and political stability, is never as simple as a mug saying… Read More

Filed Under: Charlotte Zolotow, mothering, Nothing Is Wasted on the Writer, self-understanding, personal growth, writing Tagged With: Mother's Day, mothering, self-compassion, self-love

YOU’RE INVITED: A NEW YEARS DAY PARTY PLAN B (AS IN BLACK-EYED PEAS)

YOU’RE INVITED: A NEW YEARS DAY PARTY PLAN B (AS IN BLACK-EYED PEAS)

By Crescent Dragonwagon

In the years since I have been an adult, I have hosted a New Year’s Day open house, in the late afternoon on the first day of the new year, probably once every three or four years. What I served at the first one, back when I was nineteen and had just moved to the small Ozarks boho Victorian arts… Read More

Filed Under: #DinnerwithDragonwagon, Deep Feast, recipes Tagged With: black-eyed peas, New Years

BLOSSOMING, NO MATTER WHAT: A CHRISTMAS (CACTUS) STORY

BLOSSOMING, NO MATTER WHAT: A CHRISTMAS (CACTUS) STORY

By Crescent Dragonwagon

SOMETHING, SOMEWHERE, IS BLOOMING. NOW.  IT MAY NOT BE THE PLANT YOU WANTED OR EXPECTED. ITS TIMING MAY BE OFF, OR ODD, OR MYSTERIOUS. BUT BEFORE YOU GIVE OVER TO  DESPAIR, — EASY, IN THESE DIFFICULT AND UNENDINGLY STRESSFUL TIMES —  LOOK FOR THE BUD, THE BLOSSOM. IF IT CAN FLOWER IMPROBABLY, SO CAN YOU. 2012 was the last full… Read More

Filed Under: Nothing Is Wasted on the Writer Tagged With: aging, aging parents, Arkansas, Charlotte Zolotow, Christmas cactus, compassion towards self and others, David Koff, death, eldercare, friendship, grief, grieving, love, memoir, memoir-writing, writing

MY FABULOUS GREEN TOMATO (MEATLESS) MINCEMEAT

MY FABULOUS GREEN TOMATO (MEATLESS) MINCEMEAT

By Crescent Dragonwagon

MAKE IT NOW, WHILE THE FARMER’S MARKET (OR YOUR OWN GARDEN) IS PROBABLY OVERFLOWING WITH GREEN TOMATOES. ENJOY IT ALL YEAR LONG — STARTING BUT BY NO MEANS ENDING WITH THANKSGIVING. A sweet-savory-spicy combination of fresh and dried fruits and vegetables into a dark, mysterious, delectable conserve. Perfect for pies, but you won't stop there!   What should you do… Read More

Filed Under: #DinnerwithDragonwagon, Deep Feast Tagged With: Crescent Dragonwagon recipe, green tomato mincemeat, mincemeat, Thanksgiving, vegan, vegetarian

WHY YOU CAN’T “HEAL” WIDOWHOOD GRIEF

WHY YOU CAN’T “HEAL” WIDOWHOOD GRIEF

By Crescent Dragonwagon

WHAT TO DO WHEN THE REGULAR PARADIGMS DON’T WORK Most of us, before widowhood was thrust upon us, gave little thought to what that state would actually be like.  And when and if we did try to conceive of it, most of us got it wrong. ” … In the version of grief we imagine (before we are widowed),” writes… Read More

Filed Under: #WidowhoodWednesday, Fearless Living Tagged With: compassion towards self and others, death, grief & grieving, widowhood, Widowhood Wednesday

FIFTY SHADES OF GRIEF, IN OCTOBER

FIFTY SHADES OF GRIEF, IN OCTOBER

By Crescent Dragonwagon

HALLOWEEN. IF YOU’VE LOST SOMEONE TO SUICIDE OR VIOLENCE, THIS TIME OF YEAR YOU CAN EXPECT TRIGGERS EVERYWHERE. WIDOWHOOD IS NOT STATIC. IT KEEPS CHANGING, AND IT KEEPS CHANGING US. LIKE THE LEAVES IN FALL (A TIME WHEN GRIEF, ITSELF ZOMBIE-LIKE, RE-EMERGES FOR MANY), WIDOWHOOD HAS AN INFINITE NUMBER OF COLORS. HERE ARE FIFTY OF THEM. 1. I take a… Read More

Filed Under: #WidowhoodWednesday, Crescent Dragonwagon, Fearless Living Tagged With: Adam Gopnik, aging parents, cremation, dia de las muertas, does everything happen for a reason, fifty shades, Halloween, halloween suicides, hanging, mortality, suicide, suicide survivors, suicide widow, triggers, widowhood, Widowhood Wednesday

COMFORT ME WITH APPLES… BUT MAKE THEM *BAKED* APPLES, PLEASE.

COMFORT ME WITH APPLES… BUT MAKE THEM *BAKED* APPLES, PLEASE.

By Crescent Dragonwagon

THEY COULDN’T LOOK MORE UNPREPOSSESSING. AND THEY COULDN’T BE EASIER. AND THEY COULD NOT POSSIBLY BE MORE DELICIOUS, OR MORE PERFECT FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR. MEET MY MOTHER’S BAKED APPLES. AND, IF YOU HAVE SOMEONE AT YOUR THANKSGIVING TABLE WHO IS GLUTEN- OR GRAIN-FREE, OR AVOIDING ADDED SUGAR, OR VEGAN, BUT YOU STILL WANT THEM TO BE ABLE TO… Read More

Filed Under: #DinnerwithDragonwagon, Deep Feast, recipes Tagged With: apple recipes, apple varieties, Baked Apples, fall food, How to Make Baked Apples, what is a baking apple, what is a cooking apple

A “SUICIDE-WIDOW” CONSIDERS THE UNTHINKABLE, ON A STRIPED COUCH

A “SUICIDE-WIDOW” CONSIDERS THE UNTHINKABLE, ON A STRIPED COUCH

By Crescent Dragonwagon

September is National Suicide Prevention Month. It is also the birthday month of the late David Koff, with whom I lived for almost a decade, and who ended his own life. I wrote this exploration of the collateral damage of suicide, six years ago, three years after David’s death. In 2014, I had a new cat come to live with… Read More

Filed Under: #WidowhoodWednesday, Fearless Living Tagged With: cat, guilt, suicide, suicide widow, widow, widowhood, Widowhood Wednesday

COOL IT: BEST-EVER CUCUMBER & GREEN GRAPE SOUP

COOL IT: BEST-EVER CUCUMBER & GREEN GRAPE SOUP

By Crescent Dragonwagon

WHAT? A WEEK OF 90 DEGREE DAYS BEFORE WE EVEN HIT SUMMER SOLSTICE? ARRRRGGGH! OKAY, THAT DOES IT: IT’S EARLY IN THE SEASON FOR ME DO MY ANNUAL POST OF MY BLISSFULLY CHILL CUCUMBER-GREEN GRAPE SOUP RECIPE, BUT, HAVING JUST MADE THE FIRST GALLON OF WHAT WILL BE MANY GALLONS BETWEEN NOW AND FALL… I MUST. IT’S EASY TO MAKE,… Read More

Filed Under: Deep Feast, recipes Tagged With: Arkansas, chilled soups, cucumber, cukes, Fayetteville, gardening, soup

9 WAYS TO BUILD A CREATIVE ECOSYSTEM, GLEANED FROM A WRITER’S  FINAL BIRTHDAY PARTY

9 WAYS TO BUILD A CREATIVE ECOSYSTEM, GLEANED FROM A WRITER’S FINAL BIRTHDAY PARTY

By Crescent Dragonwagon

THERE IS NOTHING MORE SOLITARY THAN THE ACT OF WRITING. YET, NO WORK MAKES IT TO PUBLICATION IN SOLITUDE. MY LATE MOTHER’S LAST BIRTHDAY BROUGHT THIS HOME TO ME. THRIVING IN THIS SOLITARY PROFESSION TURNS OUT TO REQUIRE AN ECOSYSTEM. HERE’S HOW TO GROW YOURS. We celebrated my mother’s 97th birthday, her next-to-last, in 2012, on the front porch of… Read More

Filed Under: Charlotte Zolotow, creativity, Nothing Is Wasted on the Writer, self-understanding, personal growth, writing, Writing Courses Tagged With: Aidan Chambers, Francesca Lia Block, how to be a writer, how to be more creative, how to become a writer, how to build a creative community, LGBTQ, LGBTQ-friendly children's books, Pride, William's Doll

WRITERS, AND THEIR FATHERS (PLUS, A STRIPPER NAMED MARGIE)

WRITERS, AND THEIR FATHERS (PLUS, A STRIPPER NAMED MARGIE)

By Crescent Dragonwagon

“IT MUST BE IN YOUR DNA,” PEOPLE SOMETIMES TELL ME, ON LEARNING THAT I AM THE DAUGHTER OF WRITERS. BECAUSE  THIS OVERLOOKS THE SOLITARY, INDIVIDUAL WORK I PUT INTO WHAT I DO, IT USED TO BUG ME. YET HAVING A RELATIONSHIP THAT WAS AS COLLEGIAL AS IT WAS FAMILIAL WITH  MY FATHER, INFLUENCED ME. HOWEVER, ANY KIND OF FATHER INFLUENCES… Read More

Filed Under: Books, creativity, Maurice Zolotow, Nothing Is Wasted on the Writer, writing Tagged With: Ann Patchett, Colette, Father's Day, fathers and daughters

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Read Aloud with Crescent and Mark

NOT A LITTLE MONKEY, by Charlotte Zolotow, illustrted by Michelle Chessaree

"So, the little girl climbed into the big waste-basket and waited." ' Oh no,' said her mother, ' we don't want to throw you away.'"There are many ways to express love and the need for attention. Here, a busy mother and her just-a-bit naughty little girl tease each other affectionately — the little girl making her point without even uttering a word.That's today's story time — read aloud by the author's daughter at Crescent Dragonwagon's Writing, Cooking, & Workshops, with Mark Graff's "text support" and discussion."Just right for two-to-fours, the humor of this true-to-life story of a mischievous little girl who blocks her mother's attempts to clean house will elicit giggles from the lollipop set." Kirkus Reviews

Posted by Crescent Dragonwagon's Writing, Cooking, & Workshops on Thursday, June 4, 2020

Read Aloud with Crescent

Read Aloud with Crescent

The Washington Post on Crescent’s Lentil Soup Recipe

The Washington Post on Crescent’s Lentil Soup Recipe

Greek Lentil Soup with Spinach and Lemon, photograph by Tom McCorkle, Washington Post

Bean By Bean Cookbooks

#DeepFeast Recipes

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"... like a warm luminescent blanket at bedtime... softly lulling." -- New York Times


"(With) weary animals, Dragonwagon offers an “alphabet of ways to sleep,” smoothly working in some alliteration..."
- Publishers Weekly (starred review)


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Until Just Moistened

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