Biography
Christian is a writer and workshop leader who currently lives in Williamsburg, Massachusetts. She has edited five anthologies, including Jo’s Girls: Tomboy Tales of High Adventure (Beacon Press, 1997), The Alphabet of the Trees: A Guide to Nature Writing (Teachers & Writers, 2000), and Sparks from the Anvil: The Smith College Poetry Interviews (Bauhan Publishing, 2015). Her book, World Enough & Time: On Creativity and Slowing Down (Bauhan Publishing, 2011), is now in its second edition, and also exists in an audio format (read, in its entirety, by Christian herself). It has also given rise to a little book of slow quotes called The Tortoise Diaries (Bauhan Publishing, 2014).
Christian has written for the Nation and The Village Voice, and for numerous other journals, including The Edinburgh Review of Books and the Shambhala Sun. In 2004, she helped produce the video documentary, Tomboys! Her most recent book is In Praise of Listening: A Gathering of Stories (Bauhan Publishing, 2023).
Christian has also written a play, Legal Tender, based on personal interviews with more than 50 women. It is intended as a creative catalyst, modeling courage and honesty for its listening audience, both through the play itself, and through a linked project known as the Money Stories workshops. Together they raise awareness about women and money, trigger public conversations on the subject, and create opportunities for inspiration and empowerment. Her thesis here is a very simple one: stories give rise to other stories, courage and clarity inspire more of the same. It is this ease, this confidence, this ability to shape and articulate our own money stories, that Christian would like to pass on to participants in her workshops, and to the community at large.
Christian grew up in the Borders of Scotland, and first came to the United States on a Fulbright Scholarship. She has taught poetry and creative writing at a number of different venues, including Williams College in Massachusetts, the Zen Mountain Monastery in Upstate New York, and the Scottish Poetry Library in Edinburgh. She has also worked as a writer-in-the-schools for ALPS and the Teachers & Writers Collaborative. Christian has been a fellow, several times, both at the MacDowell Colony, and at Yaddo. In 2011 she received a grant in playwriting from the MA Cultural Council. For more information, please see her résumé, and a further list of publications.
Interviews
- Interview with Jennifer Williams
Listen to Christian’s interview with Jennifer Williams at the Scottish Poetry Library - Interview with Susan J. Tweit
Read Christian’s interview with Susan J Tweit for Story Circle Book Reviews - Radio Interview with Francesca Rheannon
Listen to Christian’s interview with Francesca Rheannon on WMUA
Sparks poetry interviews
Work Samples
- https:// teachersandwritersmagazine. org/the-small-sounds-of-the- past/
- https://channelmag.org/the-voices-of-the-trees-by-christian-mcewen/
- https://channelmag.org/the-little-sounds-of-every-day-by-christian-mcewen/.
- https://www.mountainrecord.org/
- https://theamericanscholar.org/the-beloved-voice/#.XuJwd55KhTY
Bechtel Prize
Christian was awarded the 2016 Bechtel Prize for her essay on the Scottish poet and translator, Alastair Reid. The piece is called “Alastair Reid: Traveling Light” and can be viewed here on the Teachers & Writers website.
Articles
Christian McEwen taught a day long workshop with Phyllis Labanowski on “Anxiety, Abundance & the New Regime” at the Art Garden in Shelburne Falls. See Trish Crapo’s article “What’s Your Money Story?” in the Greenfield Recorder.