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Stephanie Elizondo Griest

@selizondogriest

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Homeland: Corpitos. Author of AROUND THE BLOC; MEXICAN ENOUGH; ALL THE AGENTS & SAINTS; and ART ABOVE EVERYTHING. #TestimoniosFronterizos

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A week ago today, I completed the hard cover tour for ART ABOVE EVERYTHING on the biggest stage of my career: the amphitheater of the Chautauqua Institution. It seats 4,500 people! And has previously featured everyone from Amelia Earhart to Jane Goodall. The theme of the week was “Art and Artists Against the Odds,” so I shared the testimonies of powerhouse women dancers, playwrights, and musicians from India, Rwanda, Aotearoa/New Zealand, and Cuba, alongside my own personal journey. Not gonna lie: my nerves hit an all-time high, especially when the sound recording didn’t work on the second slide. But the wonderfully receptive audience got me through it, with my bestie Michael Robertson and my love Rick Hilles cheering me on from the front row. It was a gift to go early in the week, because then I could enjoy hanging out with the other speakers, including Christopher Jackson (who played George Washington in the original cast of “Hamilton”), Dave Eggers, and—most thrillingly—the artist who serenaded me through the loneliest stretch of my teenage years: @nataliemerchant. (Talk about artists against the odds: Natalie grew up working class in Jamestown, NY, became lead singer of 10,000 Maniacs at age 17, and has leveraged her stardom to advocate for everything from underserved children to rivers and trees for the past 40 years, all while fending off stylists who wanted her to look like a pop star. Today she is gloriously gray-haired and prone to breaking out in song to prove a point. Que mujer!)

Profound gratitude to everyone who supported me on this tour—whether you fed me, housed me, drove me around town, and/or filled the seats with your primos: I seriously could not have done this without you. Chautauqua was my 56th event in my 33rd city. Today, Beacon Press released #artaboveeverything in soft cover, and in the coming months I’ll be speaking in Chapel Hill, NC; Boerne, TX; Sarasota + Sanibel Island, FL; and San Miguel de Allende, MX. Hit me up with ideas for additional events. I cannot wait to see y’all on the road! by @selizondogriest

Is art worth the sacrifice it requires? 🎨⁠
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Writer Stephanie Elizondo Griest has been asking this question since the early days of her career: "My love for what I do made my life logistically a nightmare ... or impossible!"⁠
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Stephanie hustled for decades -- putting aside life milestones and stable jobs to write. But she eventually reached a point where she needed reassurance from other female artists who had chosen this path. ⁠
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"I am bowing down to this muse that is driving everything that I do. So, I need to find my community. I need to find another chanter in the dark if I'm going to continue down this path of being an art monk."⁠
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In our newest episode, Stephanie tells Anita about her global search to understand what it takes to build a life dedicated to art.⁠
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Listen at the link in our bio. And tell us: What's the biggest sacrifice you've made for your creativity? 👇 by @selizondogriest

Oh, my friends. At long, long last…. the book project to which I have devoted the past decade of my life has both a pub date and a cover! Read all about it here::

“Is the all-encompassing quest to become a self-sustaining artist worth the sacrifices it requires? Throughout her 20s and 30s, Stephanie Elizondo Griest wondered if constantly prioritizing her writing over everything else—from postponing children to living nomadically to save on rent—was leading her to fulfillment or regret. After a brutal break-up and narrowly surviving a health crisis in her early 40s, she turned to other women for their perspectives on that haunting question: is art enough? ART ABOVE EVERYTHING documents her travels to 10 nations—from Cuba to Iceland; Rwanda to Qatar—where she meets with legendary painters, poets, actors, dancers, and musicians who talk intimately about their art, both what it gifts them and what it costs them. Collectively, these artists speak dozens of languages and worship a spectrum of faiths, but their compulsions to create despite financial hardship, misogyny, sexual violence, and family ostracization are wholly akin. Bold and inspiring, Art Above Everything illuminates the ways we can wield creativity as a vitalizing force.”

In the coming months, I’ll be posting about the powerhouse women featured in this book. But for now, I extend gratitude to all of you for supporting me on this journey. This is a book about joy and torment, in equal measure. Y’all induced so much of the former, it saved me from succumbing to the latter. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Pre-order link is in the bio!

#ArtAboveEverything #Bookstagram #authorsofinstagram #womenartists by @selizondogriest

😭💗😭💗😭💗😭💗😭💗 by @selizondogriest

Día de Muertos with @sondecarolina, Las Guaps, and endless cempasuchiles 💗 by @selizondogriest

FLORIDA! I am heading your way next week, first to give a reading at Sarasota Bookstore on the 5th, and then to teach a travel writing seminar at the Sanibel Island Writers Conference that weekend. Looking forward to seeing you! Saludos. by @selizondogriest

So happy to share the news that Art Above Everything has won two awards:: Gold prize for Best Travel Book from @societyofamericantravelwriters and the Discovery Prize in Nonfiction from @writersleagueoftexas! Profound gratitude to both organizations, which support so many writers I adore—including my brilliant former student @hannah_taking_notes, who just won bronze for a video story for Condé Nast Traveler! Congratulations Hannah 💗 and thank you @beaconpress 📚 by @selizondogriest

What book has helped YOU survive? 📚

“Self-help has never helped me. Real literature has helped me to survive in this world all the time.” — Rosa Beltrán

For Rosa Beltrán, literature doesn’t need to give us instructions for living. It can help us survive by doing something else entirely: letting us see the same life from another point of view.

In our latest audiobook, Free Radicals, humor, tragedy, family, love, and sixty years of history collide in a novel that refuses easy answers—and finds meaning in the messiness instead.

🎧 Listen today at the link in bio. by @selizondogriest

Magic by @paperhandpuppet, shared with my mom and my poet 💗 by @selizondogriest

Another beautiful night with @sondecarolina, this one featuring a preview of @iximchemedia’s powerful documentary about the impact of migration on the veracruzano and oaxaqueño communities that gave rise to this incredible music. Bravo @sophia_enriquez and @guichonavarro for your vision in bringing the Fandango to Duke! Y gracias a mis fandangueros for filling my heart with so much joy. by @selizondogriest

Felices ahorita en esta presentación de Free Radicals con Rosa Beltrán @rosabeltran2020 y Stephanie Elizondo Griest @selizondogriest . What a feast!!!! by @selizondogriest

Looking forward to connecting with people on the paperback tour for #ArtAboveEverything! Nos vemos. by @selizondogriest