Hello writers & writers-to-be!
We’ve got a few workshops coming up this month and next around Writing Ourselves Whole, and I’d love to write with you!
- September 17: Writing the Flood
- September 28: Erotic Reading Circle
- Beginning October 3: Write Whole: Survivors Write: 8 Monday evenings, 6-8:30. Open to all women who are survivors of sexual trauma
Registration is open — Please sign up early, and avoid that late-registration fee! - October 15: LitQuake’s LitCrawl! I get to participate in Carol Queen’s Good Vibrations reading again this year, during Phase 2 of the LitCrawl (7:15-8:15)
- November 12: Reclaiming our Erotic Story (Sacramento)— a daylong writing workshop (10am-5pm); open to writers of all genders and all sexual orientations!
- November 13: Write Whole: Survivors Write (Sacramento) — a daylong writing workshop (10am-5pm); open to survivors of all genders
Read on for more information about each of these events— and visit our Sign Up page to register!
~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~
Every third Saturday, 1-4:30pm
(unless otherwise noted)
September’s group meets on 9/17
Writing The Flood is a writing group for anyone looking to prime the writing pump: using the Amherst Writers and Artists method, we will write together in response to exercises designed to get those pens moving, and get onto the page the stories, poems, essays, images and voices that have been stuck inside for too long. This is a time to work on a larger project, get started on new work, play on the page, or write yourself through a block and back into your writing voice.
Unless otherwise noted, this workshop meets on the third Saturday of the month. $50 (with a sliding scale) Limited to 12. Register or email me with questions: jennifer@writingourselveswhole.org.
Upcoming dates:
- Saturday, September 17
- Saturday, October 15
- Saturday, November 19
- (we break for December — no Writing the Flood this month)
~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~
Write Whole : Our SF-based 8-week workshop
Write Whole-Survivors Write – Beginning Monday, October 3
Meets 8 Monday evenings, 6:00-8:30pm.
This workshop is open to all women survivors of sexual trauma.
Gather with other women survivors of sexual trauma in this workshop, and write in response to exercises chosen to elicit deep-heart writing, and deal with such subjects as: body image, family/community, sexuality, dreams, love, faith, and more. You’ll be encouraged to trust the flow of your own writing, and receive immediate feedback about the power of your words!
8-week workshop fees: The fee for an 8-week session is $350. (I can generally work out payment plans; please contact me if you have question or concerns about payment.) The regular registration fee will be in effect through September 15. The late registration fee is $385; last day to register is 9/30. Please register early!
~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~
Every fourth Wednesday at the Center for Sex and Culture
9/28, 7:30-9:30pm
suggested donation: $5+
The next Erotic Reading Circle meets on September 28, 7:30-9:30 at the Center for Sex and Culture, 1349 Mission Street, San Francisco (cross streets 9th and 10th). $5+ donation requested (no one turned away); donations support the Center for Sex and Culture. This month’s circle will be a collaborative effort with the Sex Worker’s Arts Festival events at the CSC!
Come join readers and share your erotic writing! Bring something to read or just be part of the appreciative circle of listeners. This is a great place to try out new work (ask for comments if you like), or get more comfortable reading for other people. Longtime writers will bring their latest… newly inspired writers, bring that vignette you scrawled on BART while daydreaming on your way to work. Carol Queen and Jen Cross host/facilitate this space dedicated to erotic writers and readers.
See you at the Circle!
~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~
|
Reclaiming the Erotic Story
|
| The Liberatory Potential of Writing Desire
November 12, 2011 – with Sacramento Sutterwriters
Can erotic writing liberate more than our libidos? Does greater comfort with sexual expression lead to greater agency in our communities? Many of us assume that the erotic is solely the province of the individual, and not the realm of social change or communal liberation – but what happens when we all have wider access to and more comfort with erotic language and sexual expression? The full breadth of our erotic power can challenge what our society teaches us about our sexuality, which is both damning and provocative when it comes to personal expression and human relationships.
When we bring our longing into the light and find common ground with others, when we risk exposing that which we’ve been trained to be ashamed of, I find that many of us step into a deeply empowered (and more embodied!) self. In this workshop, we’ll take try out some explicit writing, and will consider how empowering a creative engagement with sexual identity, desire, and expression, as well as the ability to write out our fantasies and desire, can affect our intimate relationships, our communities and our work in the world. The cost for this workshop is $100. A $25 deposit would secure your place with the balance due on the day of the class (there will be a substantial discount for participants who attend this workshop and Write Whole on Sunday the 13th.)
If you are interested in attending, please give John Crandall a call at 916-708-9708 or an email at johnalbertcrandall@yahoo.com |
~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~
For Survivors Of Sexual Trauma
November 13th, 2011 – with Sacramento Sutterwriters
Many of us who are survivors of sexual trauma feel fragmented or disjointed and have come to believe we must always live our lives this way.
In this Write Whole group, we are offered the opportunity to learn that we can live and feel whole in our experiences and desires – that we can create new art through writing, and transforming our pains and fears into power and love.
It bears repeating: Transforming our language is one way we transform our lives. Altering and expanding our language has the effect of changing who we know ourselves to be.
In this Write Whole workshop, you’ll write in response to exercises chosen to elicit deep-heart writing, engaging with such subjects as: body image, family/community, sexuality, dreams, love, faith, and more.
Though we come together as survivors, we are never required to write any particular version of “our abuse story.” In this space, you have the opportunity to write as you feel called to write, no matter what the subject.
Although the setting is a supportive one, this workshop is different from a “support group,” as the focus of the workshop itself is on each person’s writing. We create beauty out of the sometimes extraordinarily difficult stuff of our lives.
The cost for this workshop is $100. A $25 deposit would secure your place with the balance due on the day of the class (there will be a substantial discount for participants who attend this workshop and Reclaiming The Erotic Story on Saturday the 12th.)
If you are interested in attending, please give John Crandall a call at 916-708-9708 or an email at johnalbertcrandall@yahoo.com
