Poem: A Writer’s Legacy
Your legacy may not be your words in print
for future generations. Your name
on their lips as they try to dissect your craft.
Instead, it might be the forward momentum you
infuse in the community of writers around you.
And honestly, they may never remember your name
even while you’re transforming the writing landscape.
And maybe that’s still the best legacy to leave.
I believe this surely was the case for Ed Bryant, a SF/horror writer who nourished a community of writers over a nearly 50 year span.
Interesting, Gary. I looked him up and discovered he grew up in Wyoming, attended school in Wheatland, WY, and received his MA in English from the University of Wyoming. And then he later founded the Northern Colorado Writers Workshop. Along with many other things. So interesting. And you’re right. It sounds like he influenced and nurtured so many writers.
I’ll have to remember to read some of his work, too. I certainly enjoy sci-fi and horror.
Yes, I learned most of what I know about writing fiction with the Northern Colorado SF Writing group. Ed made it an excellent working community of writers. There is an active “Friends of Ed Bryant” Facebook group.
I love this, Mandie!
Thank you, Diana! 💕
You’re utmost welcome, my friend! 💙
“And maybe that’s still the best legacy to leave.” This whole post gave me a lot of food for thought. It is so easy to want to be one of those authors who are remembered over generations. But to make a difference to the writers around you…Maybe you’ll get acknowledgement for it. Maybe not. Maybe you’ll know that you made a difference. Maybe not. But it is an amazing legacy to leave behind.
It is something to think about, and it feels so natural to think this way as I watch writers around me and think about what we should do for new writers coming into the field. And then I remind myself that although I’ve always felt compelled to help other people, my desire to help other writers only began a little over three years ago when I was thinking about starting this website and contemplating what I wanted to accomplish with it. It was only then that my love of writing joined with my desire to help people. Before that, I was terrified of other writers because there were so many people who wanted to write and that saturated the field and made it harder to get published. Not even acknowledging how that only pushed writers to grow and be stronger not to mention that there are so many different ways to publish your work now. Changing my way of thinking was so good for me and I hope that I can at least show new authors that other writers are not a threat but an asset. And we all grow stronger when we’re helping each other.