Robert Frost wrote “no tears for the writer, no tears for the reader,” but how does the writer bring emotionally difficult material to the page and move through trauma to create powerful work? We will examine leading examples of grief writing and undertake writing exercises to learn ways to confront tears, find joy, and meet on the page the little known continuation of Frost’s quote: “No surprise for the writer, no surprise for the reader.” You will gain strategies for writing about trauma in pursuit of insight, a sense of wholeness, and connection to readers. Open to writers at all levels, in all genres.
$600/shared room; $720/private room; $435/commuter
Limit of 12
Leader(s)
Jessica Handler is the author of Braving the Fire: A Guide to Writing Through Grief and Invisible Sisters: A Memoir. She has been honored with residencies at the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation, a 2010 Writers Center Emerging Writer Fellowship, the 2009 Peter Taylor Nonfiction Fellowship, and a special mention for a 2008 Pushcart Prize. Her website is jessicahandler.com.
Kathryn Rhett is the author of Near Breathing and editor of Survival Stories: Memoirs of Crisis. Her poems and essays appear in Harvard Review, Michigan Quarterly Review, and the New York Times, and have been selected as Notable Essays for Best American Essays. She teaches creative writing at Gettysburg College and in the M.F.A. program at Queens University of Charlotte.
Register Online
June 8-12, 2014
$435-720
based on accommodations choice