wax poetic exquisite corpse

musings for the wondering spirit by Lorna Festa

About

Lorna Festa Hanson

Writer

Contact me

As a mom, a teacher, a writer, and the creator of Wax Poetic Exquisite Corpse, one could say I have my hands in a lot of pies. I like pie.

I live in western North Carolina, near Asheville, but my people are Italian Americans from New Jersey, and I’ve lived in South Carolina and Sheffield, England, so my accent is fucked. I prefer writing to speaking, outdoors to indoors, rock n roll, hip hop, and funk over all other genres of music, and Halloween over the other holidays. I used to explore abandoned buildings, and maybe we’ll get back to that, but for now I mostly explore the mountains and my inner landscape. My husband David and our son Luca get to spend the most time with me because we’re all homebodies these days. We live to serve our two-ton cat Earl Grey.

Banksy captures my spirit in his art: an old lady soul with a punk heart

I’m a millennial, but I prefer “Gen Y”. It suits those born 1980 – 1989 better. We get a bad rap. I talk a lot about depression, anxiety, trauma, and suicide. I will try to remember to use trigger warnings. I hope this doesn’t alienate people. People either love me or hate me so I have experience with alienating people. I’m weird, and I like other weirdos. I believe in welcoming refugees, celebrating the cultures of others, equality for People of Color (POCs), women’s and queer rights, consoling the grieving, and championing the underdog.

I studied psychology at University of South Carolina in Columbia, SC and then 2008 happened. I decided to apply for grad school in England, and when I got in, I jumped ship to Sheffield to get my master’s in writing. I studied and bartended there from 2009 until 2011 while writing my first novel, Killer and the Crooks, which I am now converting into a series script. Please use that contact me button above if you’re an artist who wants to collaborate, to speak with me about anything at all (I’d love to hear from you), but especially if you’re interested in helping a sister out with any leads in the publishing world or film industry (for scripts).

Wax Poetic Exquisite Corspe will feature posts by me on all this and more:
  • Nature: birdwatching, flora, medicinal uses, folklore, mountain culture (Think Foxfire book series).
  • Philosophy: starting with a series of my own insights and research into others’. Will be titled: On Grief, On Friendship, On Crying, On Joy, etc.
  • Mental Health: intimate articles with cited sources and/or personal narratives. I open up about living with chronic depression and adult-onset anxiety.
  • Spirituality: I embrace the mystery and invite you to do so as well. Let’s just get there when we get there.
  • Culture: especially 90s nostalgia. These are just general think pieces with references and all.
  • The Generation Gap: I was going to originally call this Fall into the Generation Gap, but I thought that may not compute with those that aren’t Gen Y. From the “Greatest” Generation to Alpha (my kiddo’s bracket) — we’re going to ‘splore this for a long, long time.
  • Personality and type: I’m an INFJ. I talk about it a lot. I’m also considering trying to develop a psychological study on personality correlations.
  • Stuff to see in WNC: i.e. breweries, orchards, festivals, activities for kids.
  • What’s Streaming? waxing philosophical mostly about mundane shit I watch on Netflix.
  • Urban exploration: potentially.
  • Mythology: I’m a big Joseph Campbell fan. I also see symbols everywhere. You will benefit from these musings if you are interested in the ancient beliefs of any people.
  • Poetry: every once and a while.
  • Archives: musings from the annals of Lorna Festa’s old notebooks.

If you love me, you’ll go ahead and BOOKMARK THIS PAGE. Really feeling supportive? Join the mailing list. Every like, comment, and share means the world to me. I won’t forget it. Grazie!