Monique Franz
So, I return to this blog space after a three-year sabbatical from my own writing. Never a good practice, but it has been purposeful in discovery. One of the goals of any sabbatical is self-discovery—or maybe—rediscovery.
Writing has always been an outlet through which I processed life. From childhood, I journaled, wrote songs and plays to conceptualize the inner-city environment in which I was raised. I was an incredibly sensitive, observant child, exposed to relationship complexities that captivated me, and they still captivate me today.
This past week, I pondered the modern-day idea of "situationships" that we, as women, get ourselves into—socially, professionally, and romantically. The word "into" seemed to take form in my mind's eye and illustrate itself as a ditch. So, I toyed with the word, seeing it become the ditches that we as women dig for ourselves in our ongoing pursuit to be loved and accepted.
"into" is a simple ditty, because getting into something you can't get out of is too easy.
About Monique
Monique Franz is the president and founding editor of Kinsman Avenue Publishing. She is also a published playwright, and teaching artist whose work highlights advocacy for marginalized communities. She earned her MFA in Creative Writing from Wilkes University, where she won the Beverly Hiscox and Norris Church Mailer scholarship awards for her literary work.
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Monique worked as the Head Performing Arts Mentor of the International Academy of Film and Television (Hong Kong) where she gained professional credits for the award-winning indie films, The Silent (2018) and Acnestis: Rose (2018). During her time overseas, she further served as a humanitarian worker, freelance writer, and theatre director. She consulted and directed for Telema, an African musical production, that raised city-wide awareness and funds for asylum-seekers and refugees.
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