In June 2013, Caroline and Janet wanted to celebrate their birthdays in a way that would spark their creativity and help others jump-start their own creative lives. They conceived of The 18 Somethings Project, based on The Writing Salon introducing this framework to D.C., who then generously shared it with Janet.
We are quite grateful to the first participants for trying this out with us to the people who have participated in all other editions, and to Victor Saad and The Leap Year Project for inspiration.
Caroline Kessler, based in Oakland, CA / on Chochenyo Ohlone land, is a poet, editor, and facilitator who works at the intersections of language, spirituality, and organizing. She is the author of Ritual in Blue (Sutra Press, 2018) and holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Washington University in St. Louis, where she was a T.S. Eliot Scholar.
Caroline is the co-creator Index/Fist, a creative collective that publishes handmade magazines featuring the art and writing of people from around the country. She is also the co-founder of Ashreinu, the only independent kehilla (community) in the city of St. Louis. Her poetry and prose has been published in Superstition Review, Echolocation, The Oakland Review, The McNeese Review, Quiet Lightning, and elsewhere.
Janet Frishberg writes fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. She works as Assistant Interviews Editor for The Rumpus. Janet’s writing has been published in [PANK], Catapult, Electric Lit, The Rumpus, Hobart, No Tokens, and many other places, and nominated for a Pushcart Prize.
Monthly, she sends out a missive called Eleven Things, which you can sign up for here.
