"Give back to the community."

1. What is your connection to Somerville?

I've been a renter in Somerville for 22 years. It's a city I've come to know well, and frequently discover anew in my wanderings.

2. How did or does living in Somerville influence your writing? Or, what does it mean to write from this place?

I was in an MFA program when I first moved to Somerville. I've led community writing classes and groups here (a couple times with LCC grant funding), and my weekly writing group meets here. It's not that Somerville influences my writing so much as it fosters an environment where I've been able to join with many other writers and continue to support one another's work and events.

3. What do other/aspiring Somerville writers need to know?

A lot of writers (and creatives of all types) live here, and there are many more who have passed through. We are getting pushed out of the city by rising rents and by those able to pay the rising rents. While you are here, be sure to give back to the community; volunteer with the Somerville Arts Council, Somerville Open Studios, and other local groups that continue to make Somerville an interesting place to live.

—A writer and artist biding her time in Somerville