STAGE TWO: SEMIFINALIST ESSAY PROPOSAL
Character conflict
Kiel Schmidt
UC Berkeley
USA
A poet sits at an outdoor table of the cafe Revue evoking a public space. He pulls words across blank pages, clouding them with phrases. He observes people who pass, those who sit and think, read and talk. He projects his sadness in them and pulls them into his poem. And the big theater of loneliness, Like a huge hand dropping out of the sky. Yet, I can hear my friends in the distance like doves saying "Omar, it's alright, it's alright'" Letter to Gary Soto, Luis Omar Salinas.
A public place is a setting for stories, where characters meet and plots collide.
My approach to the prompt: I explored Fresno, Californias Tower District by writing out my experiences of the place in a series of stories. Work at Roger Rockas Dinner Theater, bar hopping my 21st birthday, running into old friends the night before Thanksgiving, a spring walk, the day the thrift store collapsed, meeting my fiancee. These are all my stories in which this historic neighborhood is the setting. Many hold their life stories in this place; free outdoor movies projected on the back wall of the theatre, open mic poetry readings, the near riot on New Year's Eve 2000, Halloween, Mardi Gras, Anti-War Protests, Gay Pride Parade and Reel Pride Film Festival, a 50th anniversary dinner, skateboarding on the loading dock behind Tower Market, coffee alone on a foggy day.
What does this place have? A name linked to a landmark and a patchwork of urbanity. It folds around our live like the words on a page. It radiates from the corner of Olive and Wishon were the Art Deco Tower Theater touches down and becomes part of our story. It causes a consensus of feet, one of the few places in Fresno friendly to pedestrians. You need to know more about the Tower District. So then a successful public place is one that becomes part of the collective memory, evoking similar images, themes and moods.
How to apply elsewhere: Public space needs to be imbedded in a neighborhood. It belongs to them and frames their history, the setting of memories. What is interesting about the Tower District is that there is no plaza for people to gather, there is no fountains or statues. There are no grand stairs to sit on. This is a place where people have fit their needs and spilled into the streets and parkinglots. I believe underused parkinglots need to be reclaimed by communities and reprogrammed for public life. This process will create an initial place memory. "I remember when this was an empty lot collecting litter like a blackhole and glimmering with shattered dreams and empty beer bottles." "Shhh, the movie's starting" a crowd spread on blankets over the asphalt, a vast patchwork, watching classic movies. Bring popcorn, and bring the poets along.
Suggested Readings: Andres Montoya "The Iceworker Sings" Luis Omar Salinas "The Sadness of Days" Gary Soto "Living Up the Street"
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