27. May 19, 2021

Summary

• Marie and Barbara have a coffee get-together with Olivia, who drinks caffeine-free Red Zinger iced tea due to her arrhythmia.
• Olivia explains the award process for the Penley Prize, where the shortlist will drop to ten in June, five finalists in July, and the winner will be announced later, in August.
• Barbara is advised by Olivia not to submit any more poems for the Penley Prize as Olivia believes Barbara has already sent in her best work.
• Marie, Olivia's practical nurse who has been with her for nearly eight years, sees that Olivia is tired and needs to rest.
• Finalists for the Penley Prize are required to write a statement of poetic purpose, and Olivia urges Barbara to start thinking about hers.
• Barbara questions her own ability to express her poetic intent but has gained confidence from her discussions about poetry with Olivia.
• Olivia insists that Barbara's statement comes from her own heart and mind without help from anyone else.
• Barbara is reading "Blood Meridian" and a novel by Professor Castro, whom Olivia describes as a kind and witty man who was not well-liked by faculty member Emily Harris.
• Olivia shares an anecdote about Emily Harris's dislike for those who aren't white or are gay, explaining why she mentored Barbara herself.
• Marie and Olivia reminisce about how Emily Harris insisted on maintaining a Christmas party tradition despite COVID-19 through a Zoom party and delivering goody-baskets.
• Olivia reflects on a department meeting where Jorge, a former teacher, eloquently defended the Poetry Workshop, and how Emily Harris’s body language betrayed her true feelings towards him.
• The chapter ends with Olivia, assisted by Marie, making her way to the chairlift to go upstairs, recalling Emily's negative reaction to Jorge at the meeting.