Instagram story viewer> @readandbreathe> Posts

readandbreathe

@readandbreathe

7.7K

followers

4685

following

Writer. Editor of WHAT MY MOTHER AND I DON’T TALK ABOUT and WHAT MY FATHER AND I DON’T TALK ABOUT.

POSTS STORIES REELS TAGGED

Download All

Two years ago at @birdbottleinn. 🩷🩷🩷

📷: @erinwikphotography taken in The Bird and Bottle Inn by @readandbreathe

151

17

a month ago

I’m still thinking about our family vacation in Stowe, Vermont. We rented bikes and canoes, visited a farm and some breweries, toured the Ben & Jerry’s ice cream factory, hiked up a mountain road, ate a lot of delicious food, and went to a Gregory Alan Isakov & the Vermont Symphony Orchestra outdoor concert. 🩷🩷🩷 I even saw a bear while relaxing on the porch! (Not pictured. I scared it away before I could take a photo.) by @readandbreathe

92

10

a month ago

A story I often think about is inside this book 📖💛
A story that touched my heart, made me cry, and changed my perspective.

In “Un Verano en Nueva York,” Jaquira Díaz writes about her life and her relationship with her father, Cano, as she tries to understand the parts of his past that existed before she was born. She learns about his life in Puerto Rico 🇵🇷 and the years he spent in New York🗽🇺🇸❤️.

As a child, Jaquira had heard pieces of his story, including that he once had another family.

“I had always heard stories of my father’s years in New York, where he lived before he was ours. There were pictures in our photo albums of that other life…”

“When I was a kid, my mother told me about his other family: there had been another woman, and there were rumors of a son.”

What I loved most about this story was reading about the time Jaquira spent with her father. Those memories felt special and beautiful to me. The moments when they connected, shared so much in common, and tried to stay close to one another, even as life drifted them apart.

As Jaquira learns more about her father’s past, she discovers his grief and the loss of a child. That part of his story affected me deeply. His pain was something he had carried quietly for so many years, and she had no idea how much he had been holding inside.

This is where my perspective shifted. Our parents carry so much pain, grief, and history that we may know nothing about. Sometimes the ways our parents behave can be difficult for us to understand until we learn more about the lives they lived before us. Reading Jaquira discover her father’s story made me think about how much a person can hide, even from the people closest to them. When she learned the truth about her father, I cried. It truly touched my heart.

This is one of those stories that will stay with me forever.

•
•
•
#bookstagram #bookcommunity #readersofinstagram #bookrecommendations #bookstagrammer taken in New York City by @readandbreathe

207

16

a month ago

In 1905 Henri Matisse, feeling washed up and fed up, made his way to Collioure, a small Catalan fishing village in the deep south of France. He beseeched his artist friends to join him, but they all had better things to do. Only the young painter André Derain showed any interest, but his parents were dubious. Matisse wrote a postcard imploring him, writing "a stay here is absolutely necessary for your work."

Dérain did come to Collioure, and within the span of a few weeks both Matisse and Dérain made creative discoveries that changed the course of both of their lives, and gave birth to a new art movement called fauvism.

Although we can't promise such extravagant transformation, we do believe there is something life-changing here.

Come to Your Senses 2027 is now open for registration. Three week-long writing retreats, with Meg Wolitzer + Natalie Serber, Cheryl Strayed + Brian Benson, and Ann Hood + Michele Filgate. Details at the link in bio.

We hope you come. taken in Collioure, France by @readandbreathe

87

7

a month ago

It’s our last full day in Brazil! I’ll miss reading by this pool, the view from our balcony, and eating the best fruit. ☀️🇧🇷🌊 taken in Natal, Rio Grande Do Norte, Brazil by @readandbreathe

55

1

2 months ago

Yesterday we went to the International Rose Test Garden, the Portland Japanese Garden, and then we hiked the Wildwood Trail up to Pittock Mansion. I 🩷 Portland. We’re flying home today. 😭 taken in Washington Park (Portland, Oregon) by @readandbreathe

44

4

2 months ago

I’ve always wanted to visit the Oregon Coast, so I signed up for a guided tour. We went to Cannon Beach, Haystack Rock, Indian Beach, Ecola State Park, and Oswald West State Park. What a perfect day! 🩷 by @readandbreathe

157

15

3 months ago

What are the stories we never tell our parents—or ourselves?

Michele Filgate’s bestselling anthology What My Father and I Don’t Talk About brings together powerful essays on family, silence, and connection.

Hear Michele Filgate at the ‘Crafting Reality in Fiction and Nonfiction’ panel, Saturday June 13, 5-7:30pm

Beacon Litfest, June 12-14

🎟 Limited tickets still available. Link in bio taken in Beacon, New York by @readandbreathe

46

0

4 months ago

This is community! A million thanks to Director Gillian Murphy💯 of the Howland Public Library @beaconlibrary❤️

...who has graciously come to the rescue and will be providing the space for all of @thebeaconlitfest writing workshops on Sunday, June 14!

Get your Beacon Litfest tickets soon at beaconlitfest.org

They're moving fast and one writing workshop is already sold out!😊 taken in Beacon, NY by @readandbreathe

24

0

4 months ago

Look what arrived in the mail today! You can pre-order a paperback of WHAT MY FATHER AND I DON’T TALK ABOUT from your local indie bookstore. The official pub date is June 9th! 🎉🎉🎉 Featuring phenomenal essays by Andrew Altschul, Alex Marzano-Lesnevich, @mauriceruffin, @_dylanlandis, @jaquiradiaz, @kelly_mc_masters, @just_islemcelroy, @susandarraj, @tomasqmorin, @robinreif7602, @heatherellesellers, @jiordancastle, @nayomimunaweera, @joannarakoff, and @juliebuntin. by @readandbreathe

100

10

4 months ago

We're thrilled 💥that @readandbreathe Michele Filgate will be joining us as both a nonfiction panelist 📚AND an (almost sold out!) instructor this June!📕

Michele Filgate 🌟is the editor of a critically acclaimed anthology What My Mother and I Don’t Talk About,and the anthology What My Father and I Don’t Talk About. 💯

Her work has appeared in Longreads,Joyland, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, Refinery29, Slice, The Paris Review Daily, Tin House, Gulf Coast, The Rumpus, Salon, Interview Magazine, Buzzfeed, The Barnes & Noble Review, Poets & Writers, CNN.com, Time Out New York, People, The Daily Beast, O, The Oprah Magazine, Men's Journal, Vulture, and other publications. 👍🏼🌟

In 2016, ✨Brooklyn Magazine named Filgate one of "The 100 Most Influential People in Brooklyn Culture." ✨She’s a former board member of the National Book Critics Circle, a former contributing editor at Literary Hub, and is founder of the Red Ink series. She teaches or has taught creative writing at Columbia, NYU, The New School, The Sackett Street Writers' Workshop, Catapult, and others.💪 taken in Beacon, NY by @readandbreathe

103

1

5 months ago

Where I’m From #245
By Michele Filgate
Inspired by George Ella Lyon

I’m from used books purchased at the annual library sale,
from Lipton iced tea mix and Giggle Noodle soup.
I’m from a damp finished basement.
(Musty, subaqueous,
the TV glowing like an aquarium.)
I’m from the marshy path to the lake guarded by cattails,
their rustle as soothing
as squishing the spongy earth beneath my sneakers.

I’m from piano lessons and sensitive stomachs,
from starting the school project the morning it’s due.
I’m from avoiding the fact that things change,
and haunting the halls of youth.
I’m from “don’t let the bed bugs bite”
and “stop reading while walking!”

I’m from attending the weddings and funerals of strangers
from the balcony of St. Mary’s.
Watching my grandmother’s hands
as she played the organ,
more moved by the power she had
than anything the priests said.

I’m from the state everyone drives through
to get to the rest of New England.
From Irish soda bread
and grilled cheese sandwiches with tomatoes and bacon.
From the wind named after my great uncle John
who died at sea,
and my grandmother’s estranged sister
living the next town over.

I’m from old photos tucked away in the attic.
I don’t need to look at them
to feel the softness of the earth
to see glimmers of the lake
through the cattails
to hear the peepers
calling to me.

✨Thank you, Michele, for your beautiful poem & our wonderful conversation! by @readandbreathe

32

22

5 months ago