In our introductory conversations with Liz Eslinger, the CEO of Write Around Portland (WAP), we learned how the organization fulfills its mission of “changing lives through the power of writing.” We—co-liaisons for this nonprofit—decided the best way to learn more about WAP was to participate in writing workshops ourselves. WAP sponsors a variety of participant-centered writing workshops, including bi-weekly 1½ hour workshops open to anyone in the community. These workshops (currently offered via Zoom, on a sliding scale, $5 to $30 each) provide funding for BIPOC, disenfranchised and incarcerated people with opportunities to express their voices through writing.
These were our experiences:
I’m Susan and as an experienced teacher-trainer of writing workshops for K-12 international teachers, I was used to helping students draft, revise, and edit pieces of writing with peer responses both supporting and critiquing each other’s work. Therefore, I was curious about the WAP model, which features open-ended, brief one-time writings, based on a series of prompts, and only positive responses from other participants.
I was surprised and impressed with the effectiveness of their model. The group (only 5 that day but limited to 10) introduced themselves, and two of them had taken many WAP workshops before, which was evident by the quality of their writing. The highly trained and experienced leader, Laura, provided excellent prompts, ranging from quotes to scenarios to photos, prompting writing in a variety of genres with very helpful, specific positive feedback from other participants.
Having chosen January 6 in the late afternoon, I had just watched with shock the assault on our Capital and shared with Laura that I did not think I could participate. She encouraged me to try, saying “you can write about that to each prompt, or respond in other ways and no one is required to share.” I immediately felt an ability to respond to her prompts, connecting with past memories and ending with one strong “Hope for our democracy to be saved”!
I was also impressed with WAP’s follow-up from the workshop. I received a hand-written postcard from Laura, who identified the piece of writing I had produced she liked the best and why, as well as a survey from WAP asking for my evaluation.
This workshop was so impressive, I have signed up for ten 2-hour Saturday sessions—the best way I know to support Write Around Portland, but which will also provide me with invaluable opportunities to express my voice and build community with other people in Portland. I encourage other ninety-nine girlfriends to participate in a weekly writing workshop to support WAP—a win-win for you and them! You can find out more here.
I’m Jean and I’ll confess I approached the WAP writing workshop on January 7 with a bit of trepidation, both because it was held one day after the insurrection in DC and because—though I have made my professional success largely through my writing—I haven’t done any creative or “free” writing since college. I also had technical difficulties when I initially logged on, so joined the group as others were working on their first prompted writing exercise.
Nonetheless, I was immediately put at ease by the excellent leader, Susan, who welcomed me and shared the first writing prompt, “laundry hanging on the line, dirty dishes in the sink.” After that warm-up, we writers introduced ourselves and, like my co-liaison Susan, I learned that most of the attendees were regular participants in WAP workshops. And, in spite of my misgivings, I thoroughly enjoyed the whole hour and a half. It was a delight to observe where others went with the different prompts, and to be among so many talented writers.
I definitely plan to join another workshop soon and join Susan in encouraging other girlfriends to do so as well! Here’s that link again.
—Susan Rinker and Jean Malarkey