Meet Miriam Calleja Shaw | Writer & Workshop Host

We had the good fortune of connecting with Miriam Calleja Shaw and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Miriam, how has your work-life balance changed over time?
I’m a freelancer involved in various activities that tend to overlap: writing for clients, writing for myself, hosting writing workshops, working in voluntary/activist organizations, and often other varied projects. I also value my home life (husband and cat), time nurturing friendships, time alone, and time replenishing my artistic side. Each of these elements is crucial in finding my balance and they all contribute to my work. I have learned to listen to my energy levels to a reasonable extent, although I still find it extremely challenging to get the hang of it. I’ll explain: there are days when I will struggle to get much done. I will multi-task and the day will pass without feeling as though I’ve achieved much. On other days, I focus and write what feels like three days’ worth. It may sound strange that this is how I find my balance, and I’ve fought this way of being for a while. And so, you might wonder what goes into the hyper-focused days and how I could recreate this. I’m working on it, but I have observed a number of elements that go into my perfect working day. You wouldn’t expect that there’s a kind of slowness to the days that flow. Words come easy on those days. I feel grateful, and the hours and the place I’m in feel beautiful.

The truth is that everyone’s balance is going to look different. Some types of work you can shut off or leave at ‘work’. Other types you carry with you, in your thoughts, and it’s not easy to put that away when it’s time to be with other people or to have a break. There’s a grace in accepting this for yourself and your loved ones. I joke about staring into space sometimes, and how my husband has gotten used to this. He understands that words swirl in my head and that I can sometimes be ‘absent’. I try to limit this, but the nature of writing (if you want to do it seriously) is that, at times, it will consume more of your thoughts than usual.

During the pandemic, I wrote a book for around 7 weeks straight. It involved research, and so I was working long hours every single day, including weekends. It was an escape in a way. I wouldn’t recommend it, because, as you can imagine, certain parts of my life began to suffer. Sometimes, you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do. And for a freelance writer, this may be a truth to face. But then, there’s the aftermath to keep in mind. You WILL be exhausted. And so, I’ve started to look at balance as more of an overall theme–not the balance of a single day at a time, but rather finding balance inside, and finding balance over the week or the month. Knowing or trying to recognize when I need to slow down, when I need to rest, when I need to add something to my day to find peace of mind and feel like a rounded human being.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I am a flexible writer. I love learning about new topics, and I think this willingness to be involved and enthusiastic about my clients’ stories makes it easier to work with me. One of the ways that I stay interested is by letting different aspects of my life inform each other. Of course scientific writing and poetry are different, and are written for different audiences, and yet there are subtle ways in which one can meet the other without sounding out of tune. It surprises some people to think that I’m scientific in my poetry writing and poetic in my science writing, but I believe that having a background in the sciences also helps me teach. During my generative writing workshops, I stay flexible; there is a constant analysis going on, and I try to adapt my prompts to the attendees. The delivery of my prompts and the research that goes behind each prompt make a difference, I believe, to the atmosphere created in the room. My aim is to provide a space where everyone is encouraged to write.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If a friend was visiting Birmingham… BBQ at Saw’s
Sidewalk cinema
Walking around the Botanical Gardens
Coffee at General
A sandwich at the Garage
Dinner at Automatic Seafood, Blueprint, Juniper
A drive to Huntsville
Saturday morning at Pepper Place Market
Kambucha at Harvest Roots

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My writing community in Birmingham, Alabama. When I landed in the US after living in Malta, I didn’t know what to expect. I wondered whether I’d be able to keep practicing my passions, or whether my poetry would be recevied well. I was afraid that I’d need to “start all over again.” But I didn’t. I was lucky enough to start meeting writers at open mics and events, and they went out of their way to get to know me and include me in events. It went both ways of course. I tried as much as possible to support each one of them as much as I could. I involved myself in events, attended workshops and book launches, got to know them and appreciate them back. It has made all the difference to my time here. I can proudly say that almost all my friends here are writers and poets.

Website: miriamcalleja.com

Facebook: facebook.com/miriamcreativewriting

Other: miriamcalleja.substack.com