At Civitella, I had the time and space to write with no goal in mind and no end in sight. I was pushed by the conversations I had with new friends and the books I picked up in the library. I came with an idea of what I would work on, but when I arrived I realized that I had to accept the gift Civitella was giving me: the luxury of letting my mind wander, letting my writing surprise me. The result is the beginning of a project that I don’t think I could have started anywhere else.