Loss happens to everyone at some point — through death, divorce, illness, dislocation, estrangement, miscarriage, and the like...
Writing together through loss and its accompanying grief can offer....
clarity and consolation
a sense of catharsis and control
a feeling of community
March 24 - April 14 with author and instructor Anne Pinkerton
We can take what is trapped inside our heads and hearts and shape those emotional experiences on the page.
We can receive a sense of catharsis and control over something we had no control over at the time. Doing it with others who 'get it' can provide a sense of community.
In this workshop, we’ll discuss methods to approach writing about these challenging topics and ways to take care of yourself through the process..
"The best way out is always through.”
- Robert Frost
On instructor Anne Pinkerton's memoir Were You Close?:
“Were You Close? captures how the death of a loved one causes us to reflect on and reassess our relationships — especially our relationship with the person who died. It is lyrical, accessible, and a necessary contribution to the literature of loss.”
-Gabrielle Birkner,
Co-author, Modern Loss: Candid Conversation About Grief. Beginners Welcome
Women from all writing backgrounds and experience levels are welcome.
supported during these three weeks:
PROMPTS AND READINGS
During each week you will read relevant samples of other writers' work followed by related prompts designed to help inspire your writing.
ZOOM CALLS
Once a week, we'll have an opportunity to meet and talk through the workshop material together. All meetings will be recorded, if you are not able to attend the live sessions.
Post Your Writing
We'll provide a private community forum for you to share your writing, connect with other writers, and get support and feedback.
+ each week's themes +
Our weeks will be organized by an overarching theme that takes us through the experience of loss from the painful beginning to a place of survival and meaning, with related topics woven into our readings, discussion, and prompts.
WEEK 1: Welcome
- Introductions
- Shock
- Anger
WEEK 2: REMEMBERING AND CONTEMPLATING
- Exploring what was lost
- What people say
- Pictures and "things"
WEEK 3: SURVIVING AND FINDING MEANING
- How perspectives can shift
- Rituals
- Relationships
- How to carry on
YOUR INSTRUCTOR: ANNE PINKERTON
Anne Pinkerton is an essayist, memoirist, and poet. Her work often circles around grief and loss, as well as coping with these painful realities in our lives.
Anne’s writing has appeared in the Boston Globe, Hippocampus Magazine, Modern Loss, “Beautiful Things” at River Teeth Journal, Sunlight Press, The Bark, and Lunch Ticket, and The HerStories Project, among other publications, as well as the anthologies, The Pandemic Midlife Crisis: Gen X Women on the Brink, Nothing Divine Dies: A Poetry Anthology About Nature, and Better Together: A Collection of Essays on Women Gathering.
Anne holds an MFA in creative nonfiction from Bay Path University and studied poetry as an undergrad at Hampshire College. She grew up in Texas and lives in Western Massachusetts.
She is the author of Were You Close? a sister's quest to know the brother she lost (Vine Leaves Press, 2023).
"If we want to write memoir, we need to be willing to plumb the depths of our grief and trauma. Once you get going on those deep dives, it can really help to talk things out with a trusted, knowledgeable guide, who knows you can do it when you think you can’t.
Anne has been there and back, and she brings gifts of insight that come from facing down her demons and living to tell the tale." — Kim MacQueen, former workshop participant
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- Writing prompts and readings
- Zoom meetings once a week
- Recordings of all meetings if you can't attend live
- Personalized feedback on your writing
- Lessons and resources
- A supportive community
- If you are experiencing financial challenges, you may use the coupon code "GRIEF" at checkout for 50% off.
