Over the course of her 10-year literary career, Tufts alum and author Amy Krouse Rosenthal (LA '87) has not only dabbled in different types of writing, but also expanded her creativity into other media. "I just pay attention to what I'm interested in at the moment and try to stay true to that," Rosenthal said, concerning her wide range of passions. Her newest film project, "The Beckoning of Lovely," has attracted a large-enough following that she decided to expand its scope and welcome submissions from any type of artist working in all imaginable media. A personal journey
After leaving Tufts, Rosenthal embarked on a career as a copywriter in advertising for 10 years until she decided to change careers and focus on creative writing full-time. Explaining this change, Rosenthal said, "It came as a gradual evolution and wasn't a preconceived, mapped-out change, rather an epiphany of sorts ... a closing of the door to one career and embarking on another." Rosenthal said she loved her first career in advertising, but her life as a full-time working mother of three was hard to balance.
Rosenthal began writing and published her first book, "The Book of Eleven" (1998), a non-fiction personal narrative for adults in which she takes everyday events and transforms them with her quirky, humorous tone. "The hardest part getting started was finding an agent," she said. "But once I did, it was much easier to find a home for my book." She followed "The Book of Eleven" with another adult personal narrative, "The Same Phrase Describes My Marriage and My Breasts: Before the Kids They Used to be Such a Cute Couple (Notes While They Nap)" (1999). This collection of anecdotes, charts and poems continues the biting tone used in her previous book while exploring the ups and downs of parenting,referencing Rosenthal's personal experiences.
Her next adult personal narrative was a huge success, entitled "Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life" (2005). In it, Rosenthal relates to her readers random tidbits from her life, arranged in the form of an encyclopedia. "I knew that it wasn't a traditional memoir, a grand story of overcoming a profound struggle," she said. "I was researching various forms of non-fiction, and at the end of that process, I came across the encyclopedia and thought that it was a fantastic format." Her "Encyclopedia" even has its own Web site (www.encyclopediaofanordinarylife.com) in which Rosenthal posts excerpts, reviews and other news related to the book. Not all peas and cookies
Rosenthal is also a prolific children's author. Her first children's book is called "Little Pea" (2005), and is about a pea who must eat all of his candy (which he hates) before being allowed to have dessert. She later wrote "Cookies: Bite-Size Life Lessons" (2006), a book that explains big-concept words such as envy, greed and kindness through cookie-centric definitions. She has since produced four children's books, including "One of Those Days" (2006), "The OK Book" (2007), "Little Hoot" (2007) and "It's Not Fair" (2008). Branching out
Some other projects that Rosenthal has undertaken over the last ten years consist of The Amy K Line of Gift Books and Journals, a line of greeting cards created with American Greetings, and a radio show on NPR called "Writers' Block Party," based in Chicago. She is also a journalist, writing as a columnist for publications such as Might magazine, a San-Francisco-based publication founded by novelist Dave Eggers, and contributing to magazines like Parenting and O, The Oprah Magazine.
Rosenthal's newest artistic endeavor is filmmaking. When asked what inspired the switch from writing to film, she said, "I got a toy camera called a flip camera, and it changed my approach to projects. I was filming things I would never have filmed before." Out of this new approach came her first short film, "17 Things I Made" (2008), which can be viewed on YouTube.com. In her film, Rosenthal points out things she has created, including her children, her books and her sandwich. At the end of the film, she invites her viewers to meet her on Aug. 8, 2008 to make an 18th beautiful thing.
The 18th beautiful thing led to a project now known as "The Beckoning of Lovely." When Rosenthal arrived at the meeting place, she was expecting around 50 people; what she got was about 400 willing to partake in her new project. "I was shocked that all those people showed up," Rosenthal said. "[My collaborator and I] had mapped out the project and had signs we wanted to use, but all the unexpected amount of people threw us off ... Everyone worked together to pull it off somehow." 'Beckoning' your submissions
The popular reaction to her films and the participation of so many people spurred Rosenthal to expand "The Beckoning of Lovely" even further. She is now accepting submissions from anyone who makes any kind of art. Rosenthal's interpretation of "art" ranges from videos to songs, from paintings and drawings to animations and photographs, from architecture and poems to cell phone snapshots and sand castles. "We are looking for anything fabulous," she explained, setting the guidelines as broad as one can imagine.
Rosenthal's collaborator for all of her films, friend and filmmaker Steven Delahoyde, plays an integral role in translating her vision to film. Concerning their new project, "The Beckoning of Lovely," Delahoyde said, "I think it's a very original project and certainly worth the time of anyone who has something to send in." Rosenthal and Delahoyde are both extremely enthusiastic about the project and are willing to accept many ideas for their new film, as a sort of mélange of random yet beautiful objects, hence the title.
Both Rosenthal and Delahoyde emphasize the possibilities of their newest project. Rosenthal claimed that it has always been a theme of her work to accept responses and ideas from others, creating an interactive environment. "This project has been about reaching outward from the beginning," she said. "I didn't initially conceive of 8/8/08 as being another stage of the project, but because it's a theme of my work of putting invitations out to the universe, it makes sense that 'The Beckoning of Lovely' became a continuation of what's started." When asked why "The Beckoning of Lovely" is a time-worthy project, Delahoyde said, "The beauty of the project, which we'd talked about early on before we'd shot a thing, was how she [Rosenthal] had no idea what this would become and how it all depended on everyone else."
"The Beckoning of Lovely" has the potential to turn into a wonderful project, one of the reasons Rosenthal decided to bring her work and her ideas back to Tufts. She hopes to gain new additions to the project from students. "I think it's better to feel connected and be extended," she said, "and by bringing this project back to Tufts University, it's an amazing thing for me, coming back full-circle." She hopes that students will be interested in submitting work in any artistic form they desire.
Rosenthal admits that she loves all kinds of projects and always has more than one artistic endeavor going on at a time. "I work best when I have a lot of different things cooking," she said. "The lucky thing about my job is that I'm my own boss, so I can control my own downtime." Besides the "Beckoning of Lovely," she has one book scheduled for 2008, four for 2009 and six more for 2010 and beyond. To learn more about Amy Rosenthal, visit her Web site, www.whereisamy.wordpress.com.
