6 PM - 8 pm | August 17 + 24
When musician and New Yorker contributing writer Howard Fishman first heard the music of the obscure 1950s-era songwriter Connie Converse, his life and career screeched to a halt. Her visionary music, unrecognized in her own time and only recently released in this century, “revealed a tear in the fabric of our culture, one that required mending.” Twelve years and countless hours of research, travel, and interviews later, Fishman’s new book To Anyone Who Ever Asks: The Life, Music, and Mystery of Connie Converse is a celebration of the unseen and unheard in our society, people making work not for the promise of popularity and wealth, but for beauty and self-expression.
Converse intentionally disappeared in 1974, at age 50, feeling disconnected and despairing of ever finding a way of making herself known. But as Fishman says in the epilogue to his book: “How might Connie Converse have fared had she lived in a society in which everyday creativity was honored, and all took a genuine interest in the things one another made? The famous artists we love and admire are one thing, but what about that health care worker down the street who writes poetry on the side? What about that aunt who paints watercolors as a hobby, or that high school teacher who curates a gorgeously thriving garden, or is experimenting with new culinary creations, or who just wrote a new song— not to upload on social media, but simply for the sake of doing something beautiful, as Converse did throughout her life? In today’s trend toward everything local, can we take more of an interest in local art, too? Can we find a way to celebrate one another, and the creative spark that resides in each of us?”
In the first segment of this two-part class, Fishman will talk about his work as a biographer and literary detective, and about why he became obsessed with Connie Converse’s life and work. Attendees will then be given an assignment that will inform the workshop’s second session, when the general public will be invited to engage with and celebrate the fruit of their endeavors.
Location: Main Campus. Look for Craigardan Event sign at the end of Main Campus driveway (two “doors” west of the farm store, towards Keene).
Registration
$40 per person for two sessions
Howard Fishman is a 2023 Teaching Fellow. Howard is a frequent contributor to The New Yorker, where he has published essays on music, film, theater, literature, travel, and culture. His bylines have also appeared in the New York Times, Rolling Stone, The Telegraph, Vanity Fair, The Washington Post, Artforum, San Francisco Chronicle, Mojo, The Village Voice, Jazziz, and Salmagundi. His play, A Star Has Burnt My Eye, was a New York Times “Critics Pick.” As a performing songwriter and bandleader, Fishman has toured internationally as a headlining artist for over two decades. He has released eleven albums to date, and is the producer of the album Connie’s Piano Songs: The Art Songs of Elizabeth “Connie” Converse. He is based in Brooklyn, NY.