Roseena Veronika Hussain

‘Many years ago, Carson gave a lecture at Teachers & Writers in New York City, at which she introduced (to me) the concept of leaving a space empty so that God could rush in. I knew a bit about this concept from my boyfriend at the time, who was big into bonsai. In bonsai you often plant the tree off-centre in the pot to make space for the divine. But that night Carson made the concept literary. (Act so that there is no use in a centre: a piece of Steinian wisdom Carson says she tries to impart to her students.) …I went home fastened to the concept of leaving the centre empty for God. It was like stumbling into a tarot reading or AA meeting and hearing the one thing that will keep you going, in heart or art, for years.’

– Maggie Nelson, The Argonauts