WHAT IS A FLAMINGO WRITER?
The effect of reading and writing fine stories and poems is, as Fitzgerald put it, like swimming underwater and holding your breath."
Flamingos, however, do not swim underwater; they paddle on top of it, stand in it, tramp through it, and sleep in it. They have bald faces and curved beaks stuck on necks too long for their short, heavy bodies. They swallow muddy water backwards, straining seafood from sand through their hooked bills. Like flamingos, beginning writers must strain words backwards, hoping to find a good phrase or two. Then they retreat to sleep, faces buried in feathery dreams. But when flamingos fly, flashes of pink wings startle the horizon. The beginning writing here startles us with flashes of literary technique and energy. We invite you to read these pieces and encourage you to consider their technique and meanings.
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