Free Samplers - 8 week creative writing workshop - Sampler Agenda - Anni's Bio - Up North Vision - Up North Fact Sheet
FREE Creative Writing Sampler Classes top
Offered by Women Writing for (a) Change Up North
DEC 8 10:00am – 12:00 pm
DEC 15 10:00am – 12:00 pm
JAN 12 10:00am - 12:00pm
Reserve your space at 231-223-7783, www.womenwritingupnorth.com
Women Writing for (a) Change Up North top
8 Week Creative Writing Class - Sat. 10-12:30 a.m. Starting 1/26/08
at Just Imagine Creative Center, 225 W. 14th St. Traverse City
$199, Now taking registrations 231.223.7783
o Professional facilitation
o Guided writing prompts
o Shared readings
o Safe/Supportive environment
o All levels of experience welcome
Creative Growth, Healing, Self-Discovery, Social Change
More info at: www.womenwritingupnorth.com
Women Writing for (a) Change Up North
“Bringing words to women and the words of women to the world.”
Women Writing for a ChangeSaturday top
Creative Writing
Sampler
One of the wonderful things about being a writer is that it can be done at home . - Kaye Gibbons
“Women often live out inauthentic stories provided by a culture they did not create. The story most commonly told to young girls is the romantic one of falling in love and living happily ever after. As they grow older, some women seek to replace that story with one of free and independent womanhood.” - Carol Chris t
By Naomi Shihab Nye
After learning my flight was detained 4 hours,
I heard the announcement:
Please come to the gate immediately.
Well – one pauses these days. Gate 4-A was my own gate. I went there.
An older woman in full traditional Palestinian dress,
Just like the one Grandma wore, was crumpled to the floor, wailing loudly,
Help, said the flight service person. Talk to her. What is her
Problem? We told her the flight was going to be four hours late and she
Did this.
I put my arm around her and spoke to her haltingly.
Shu dow-a, shu-biduck habibti, stani stani schway, min fadlick,
Sho bit se-wee?
The minute she heard any words she knew—however poorly used
She stopped crying.
She thought our flight had been cancelled entirely.
She needed to be in El Paso for some major medical treatment the
Following day. I said no, no, we're fine, you'll get there, just late,
Who is picking you up? Let's call him and tell him.
I called her son and I spoke with him in English.
I told him I would stay with his mother till we got on the plane
and would ride next to her –Southwest.
She talked to him. Then we called her other sons just for the fun of it.
Then we called my dad and he and she spoke for a while in Arabic and
Found of course that they had ten shared friends.
Then I thought just for the heck of it why not call some Palestinian
Poets I know and let them chat with her. This all took up two hours.
She was laughing a lot by then… Telling about her life. Answering
Questions.
She had pulled a sack of homemade mamool cookies – little powdered
Sugar crumbly mounds stuffed with dates and nuts -- out of her bag --
And was offering them to all the women at the gate.
To my amazement, not a single woman declined one. It was like a
Sacrament. The traveler from Argentina , the traveler from California ,
The lovely woman from Laredo – we were all covered with the same
Powdered sugar. And smiling. There is no better cookies.
And then the airline broke out the free beverages from hug coolers—
Non-alcoholic – and the two little girls for our flight, one African
American and one Mexican American – ran around serving us all apple juice
And lemonade and they were covered with powdered sugar, too.
And I noticed my new best friend—by now we were holding hands—
Had a potted plant poking out of her bag, some medicinal thing,
With green furry leaves. Such an old country traveling tradition. Always
Carry a plant. Always stay rooted to somewhere.
And I looked around that gate of late and weary ones and thought,
This is the world I want to live in. The shared world.
Not a single person in this gate – once the crying of confusion stopped
has seemed apprehensive about any other person.
They took the cookies. I wanted to hug all those other women too.
This can happen anywhere. Not everything is lost.
9:45-10:00: Registration and settling in. After you have checked in with the greeter, please find a seat in the Large Circle , a space where quiet is maintained so that writers can slow down and become more present. This is a good time to read over the agenda.
10:00: WELCOME: Brief Introduction to Women Writing for a Change
10:05: OPENING THE CIRCLE: Passing the lit candle around the circle symbolically establishes a boundary that holds in confidence the words spoken here, creating a safe space for our “community of truth” (Parker Palmer). It can also be a time to center your thoughts on your intentions for the evening.
Opening the class with a poem symbolically creates an atmosphere of reverence for language.
Check-in with the stone : As the talking stone is passed around the circle, each writer says her/his name and a few words about what brings her/him to this circle.
10:15: WRITING TIME:
Fastwrite Suggestions:
1) Write to the prompt: “All is not lost….”
2) Write a fastwrite starting with a phrase that speaks to you from the poem
3) Record what you are experiencing right now. Be very present and engage all your senses. Commit this moment to memory by writing about it.
Don't worry about complete sentences or whether you are putting together seemingly random images and memories. Honor any image or fragment that comes to mind.
Note on fastwrites: Fastwrite means to write fast without any plan. Here are Natalie Goldberg's “rules” for fastwriting from her book Writing Down the Bones : 1. Keep the hand moving, 2. Don't cross out, 3. Don't think, 4. Don't get logical, 5. Go for the jugular. Goldberg says that fastwrites allow us to “capture the energy of first thoughts” where, many times, we can discover our best ideas. The prompts may not do anything for you, that's OK, just write what occurs to you, write what wants to be written. Some people love fastwrites, some people hate them. If you don't like them, start by writing why you don't like them. The idea is to keep the juices flowing and allow out what wants to come out.
10:25: PAIR SHARING: Get together with a partner. Dividing the time equally, take turns being reader and listener. The listener will listen, and if possible, write down favorite words or ideas. The listener will do “Readbacks” and tell the reader: 1) what she liked; 2) what she'd like to know more about; 3) what she needs clarification on or didn't understand.
10:45: BREAK: Stretch your legs, visit with one another, enjoy refreshments. Please return to the circle when you hear the chime.
10:55 SECOND FASTWRITE – Choose as a prompt an image or phrase that appeals to you from the center of the circle. Write to that prompt for 10 minutes. This will be the fastwrite that you will share in the large circle for our Readaround.
2:05: READAROUND / READBACKS: of all or a piece of your fastwrite. Your words are a gift to us all. However, no one is required to read aloud. Your choice to pass is respected. This time is limited to 1 minute per reader. Please try and read slowly and to fill the space with your words. We will also write down “read-back lines.” This is when we try and jot down a few words or images during a reading that catch our attention or imagination. This is a tricky task but one that becomes easier as the semester proceeds. Then, at the end of the readaround, we read these jottings “back” to the circle as a way of appreciating each woman's writing, and so we can know our words have found “good ears.”
11:25: CLOSING THE CIRCLE: Announcements / Confidentiality Reminder / Soulcards / Candle
11:30: THANK YOU FOR COMING! As you leave the circle, please place your soulcard in the basket on the center cloth. Hope to see you again soon!
GLOSSARY OF TERMS USED IN TODAY'S CLASS
Fastwrite : Writing fast enough to stay a step ahead of the inner critic or editor.
Read-around : Sharing a piece of writing in the large circle. Each woman has a portion of time in which to read. Passing is an honorable option. Confidentiality is expected.
Readbacks: during read-arounds listeners write words and phrases which move them in some way. Space in the Circle is opened at the end of Read-around, and these words are read aloud in no special order (like polyphonic music, an interweaving of words).
Soul Cards: At the end of each class, 3x5 cards will be passed to each woman. Take a few minutes quietly to write some words to the community about how the evening felt to you. E.g., What did you feel, notice, learn, appreciate? Any gifts? Any challenges, suggestions, questions for the group? The cards will go in a designated basket (each class has their own basket) and are available to be read as a way of keeping in touch with the tone and feel of the class. The Soul Cards are a way to handle both light and shadow in a non-threatening way, and to make sure that negative feelings are not buried or shamed. From time to time, we will read the cards aloud before class. Your comments can remain anonymous, or you may choose to sign your name or initials.
Anni Macht Gibson Bio top
Anni Macht Gibson is a writer who splits her time between Cincinnati , Ohio and Traverse City , Michigan . Unfinished , published by Woven Word Press in May, 2007, is her first collection of poetry.
Currently, she is on the faculty of the Women Writing for (a) Change School in Cincinnati and serves on the Board of the Women Writing for (a) Change Foundation. She also facilitates a Women Writing for (a) Change writing circle at the Cincinnati YWCA Battered Women's Shelter.
Ms. Gibson's background is as a marketing manager for a Fortune 500 company, where she worked for 24 years. She has been writing since her retirement in 2001 and is especially inspired by the natural setting around her cottage in Traverse City , where she plans to offer retreats for aspiring writers.
She earned her bachelor's degree from Goucher College in 1974 and a Masters of Eduction with a concentration in Communications from Xavier University in 1977. In her free time, she serves in several volunteer capacities, in addition to those at Women Writing for (a) Change, does needlework and likes romping with her Corgi, Erin and her Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Sophie.
Ms. Gibson can be contacted via www.womenwritingupnorth.com (website under construction). top
Vision/Mission/Values – Women Writing for (a) Change Up North top
Vision: WWf(a)C, and its affiliate WWf(a)C Up North, seek to bring the feminine* into fuller expression through the art of writing, by supporting the voices and stories of individuals from all races, classes and nations.
*The feminine refers to a way of being in the world which is receptive, nurturing and authentic, and can be accessed by all individuals, whether male or female.
Mission : The WWf(a)C process provides opportunities for women to craft more conscious lives through the art of writing and the practices of community. WWf(a)C supports the voices and words of women through its creative writing classes. WWf(a)C creates conscious and transformative communities where the individual voice is nurtured, developed, and celebrated.
Fact Sheet:
Women Writing for (a) Change_Up North top
708 Neahtawanta Rd. Traverse City MI 49686 231.223.7783
History The Women Writing for (a) Change movement was founded in Cincinnati , OH in 1991 by Mary Pierce Brosmer, teacher, speaker, feminist visionary, and published writer. WWf(a)C is a feminist creative writing center that evokes and supports the lives and words of women and girls. Writing circles provide inspiration, discipline and a non-competitive community within which writers can develop both skill and depth of expression.
Working in large and small groups, both novice and experienced writers set their own writing agendas. Dedicated teachers, with experience in creative writing and facilitation, provide activities in different genres (poetry, fiction, autobiography) to encourage growth. Respectful feedback from peers and teachers is responsive to each writer's stage of development. Opportunities to read work publicly are provided.
Since opening her Cincinnati school in 1991, over 700 adult women have been writers at there, with an 85% return rate. . WWf(a)C was honored as “Best Support Group of the City” by Cincinnati Magazine's 2002 “Best in the City” issue. They described it as “A place where women ‘write' themselves into newer and different lives.” Cincinnati Magazine , October 2002. Mary Pierce Brosmer was honored as Leading Woman in the Arts by Leading Women 2005.
In 2002 The Feminist Leadership Academy of Cincinnati was developed to provide leadership training for women and men seeking to deepen their calling by fostering creative work in themselves and others. The FLA has trained over 30 women to be teachers, consultants and site owners using the WWf(a)C process.
There are currently 9 affiliate schools in Louisville , KY ; Burlington , VT ; Indianapolis , IN ; Bloomington , IN ; Grand Junction , CO ; Birmingham , AL ;New York/New Jersey; Portland , OR ; and Traverse City , MI .
WWf(a)C Up North Anni Macht Gibson: Owner, Faculty
708 Neahtawanta Road , Traverse City , MI 49686
More information Anni Gibson 231.223.7783 info@womenwritingupnorth.com top