Living the Comma #15

[The Stage is on Fire] is a page-turner in which, much like life, there are no easy answers and yet each step of the journey yields insight and hope. This work of heart must not be missed!

Melanie Faith

Creative Writing Teacher, Essayist & Poet.

Katie Steedly’s first-person piece [The Unspeakable Gift] is a riveting retelling of her participation in a National Institutes of Health study that aided her quest to come to grips with her life of living with a rare genetic disorder. Her writing is superb.

The Society of Professional Journalists

In recognition of receiving the Dateline Award for the Washingtonian Magazine essay, The Unspeakable Gift.

I thank you … It is the authenticity of your “class notes”; and it is the delicacy and skill with which you present the nuances of classroom life and the actuality of your students’ and fellow teachers’ lives.

Maxine Greene

Philosopher and Education Scholar

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Thursday Writer’s Hour. Teddy Bears. The Moth. Roxanne Gay.

“I often say that reading and writing saved my life. I mean that quite literally.” — Roxane Gay

Dear Writer Friends,

As we head toward the end of our first year of meeting in May, I have been talking with group members over the last few weeks. It has been wonderful to get to know group members better, to think forward together, and keep building our small and mighty writing group within the larger Virginia Highland Church community. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Let’s continue to connect.

A few points to ponder going forward.

We are initiating a Thursday (not Wednesday as I had earlier thought) Writer’s Call that will be held from 1:00-2:00 every week. Each call will be an hour of silently and virtually writing together. Whatever project you choose to work on. Whenever you want to join in. Join our effort to make progress on projects together. Here is the link.

The newsletter — Living the Comma — will continue to be delivered on Mondays to keep our broader community up-to-date and writing. If you know other’s who might want to be involved, share away.

Our writing group will be participating in sewing teddy bears for families impacted by ICE. The next group sewing session will be on Saturday, Feb. 21st, 1-4 pm at Atlanta Friends Meeting House, 701 West Howard Avenue, Decatur, GA 30030 (map). Let me know if you want to be involved.

Our next face-to-face writing session will be March 1 at VHC after snack time. We are scheduled to meet from 12:15 to 1:30 in April and May, too. To virtually connect with the group during our meetings, use this link — https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85095318186.

It’s February and we are all in the middle of so much. Writing can help us sort through the mess. Writing can help us find strength and clarity. Writing can help us, as Rilke suggests, live the questions. Writing our stories is living the questions. A writing group member and friend suggested I check out prompts from The Moth

The Moth is true stories, told live and without notes. We celebrate the ability of true, personal storytelling to illuminate both the diversity and commonality of human experience… Through live and virtual shows, storytelling workshops, a podcast, Peabody Award-winning Radio Hour, and New York Times Best Selling books, The Moth brings the power of personal storytelling to millions of people each year—creating community and building empathy around the world.

Select a Moth prompt and explore your story. Here is a collection of Moth stories that celebrate Black History month to give you an idea of their work. In thinking about writing advice right now, check out Roxane Gay’s Masterclass, Writing for Social Change. For brief writing tips on finding the why, listen to Gay’s 5-minute New York Times video. For even more Gay, read the full text of Gay’s speech, “Tired of Talking about Diversity.”

From the heart of the comma.

Katie

Thank you for Living the Comma with me. This community is truly love and light. Subscribe to the Wide-Awakeness Project and share your light. It has never been more important.

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