The Palacio Podcast
Replay: Nancy Lynee Woo is an Incorrigible Optimist and that’s a Good Thing
Nancy Lynee Woo is a freelance writer, editor, and creative consultant, and organizer of creative events including community writing workshops and poetry series. She is also an incorrigible optimist and is not shy about admitting it and for good reason. (Her middle name is actually “Lynée” but WordPress won’t let me use it in SEO. My apologies.)
“I cannot help but try and see the best in everything and I have to believe that things are getting better.”
Woo calls it a conscious choice in her life so she can move forward.
“…with the idea that I’m always evolving and transforming and creating into a better version of myself.”
Spend any time with Nancy Lynee Woo and you quickly realize that not only is she very serious but that it can be contagious and that’s a good thing for all of us.
PalacioMagazine.com sat down for an interview with Nancy Lynee Woo in a peaceful apartment with the most chilled cat I’ve met in a while. Unfortunately, the sound of the outdoor reality could not help but occasionally invading our space.
Why Poetry?
A poem can be
a lesson in empathy
a moment of magic
a way to rewrite the world- Nancy Lynee Woo
Dinner Party
Circling around tile like a Russian ballet,
burner off, cork popped, sauce stirred.
Grab the glasses! someone says. Flurry
of feet carpet over stacks of stuff
to set the table. Rustle of wings.
Bring out the cheese and bread!
We caw out of our mighty bellies
the birdsong of survival, as we
pour the red, check the oven,
toss the salad. Hummingbird wings
beat over 1,200 times per minute.
Five ladies here spinning two plates
per palm, at least.
Don’t drop the rolls, but
grab the butter. Don’t drop the keys
to the apartment, but let us all in.
Don’t drop the memos. Don’t drop
your beauty regimen. Don’t drop
your family time. Don’t drop
the cleaning, the bills, career.
Careful, your relationship smells
like it’s burning. Check the temperature.
Put back in, or let cool. Don’t drop
your future. Don’t drop. Don’t drop.
Don’t be exhausted.
But balance your self-love at the center
of your gravity. Don’t drop out
on your girlfriends who remind you
to salt and pepper. Just clink
the bubbly. Sit back and split open
this cheesecake. Don’t think about
the gym later. Dive in, fork to lips.
Let it all out! As one rinses. One suds.
One dries. One wipes. One tidies.
We’ve built a good team.
The production value of this dinner
skyrockets. Meander back to couch,
soft hugs when needed, tough love
when the time’s right. Always clinking.
Erupt, we each get to be Vesuvius—
and for a moment, set our plates down.
Nancy Lynee Woo is an important Voice
From her biography
Nancy Lynee Woo is a 2015 PEN Center USA Emerging Voices Fellow, and the author of two chapbooks, Bearing the Juice of It All (Finishing Line Press, 2016) and Rampant (Sadie Girl Press, 2014). She has also recorded a poetry-music CD, Face the Blaze (Blacksheep Music Productions, 2014) and has had poems published in numerous journals and anthologies, including Radar Poetry, Confrontation Magazine, The Rusty Toque, and Stirring.
Recently, Nancy exhibited a poem at the Ruth B. Shannon Art Gallery in Whittier as a part of the collaborative poetry, music, and art project, Bridges. She is the promotions manager for OUT LOUD: A Cultural Evolution, Long Beach’s first LGBTQ+ arts festival. In 2017, Nancy co-founded the Long Beach Literary Arts Center, whose mission is to create space for writers in Long Beach to connect, create, and collaborate.
Nancy Lynee Wood teaches independent community writing workshops, including her 8-week Surprise the Line classes. This summer, she hosted a 12-week discussion group on The Artist’s Way, by Julia Cameron. She hosts two poetry reading series, Poetry on the Rocks and Off the Page: The Story Behind the Stanzas.
Nancy graduated with a degree in sociology from UC Santa Cruz and has received training in group facilitation from the Center for Council. As of now, she works as a freelance writer, editor, and creative consultant, though her many hats rotate fairly often to accommodate the projects that strike her fancy. You can find her online at nancylyneewoo.com, lblitarts.com, and support her work at patreon.com/fancifulnance.
Nancy Lynee Woo
