“They took ugly experiences and made them beautiful.” -Roxanne Gay, “Writing into the Wound”
This workshop will focus on how writing gives us the space to process our experiences and the tools to rewrite our trauma. We have the power to make it as ugly or beautiful, as healing or destructive, and as powerful or insignificant as we would like. In her essay on writing about trauma, Roxanne Gay describes the act of writing as “being able to make and remake the world.” This workshop will explore that idea, giving participants the space to write about their experiences, to make and remake their own world in limitless ways.
Partnering with the Engagement Editor of Oxford American Literary Magazine, Righting and Rewriting will be both a discussion of writing about trauma and a writing workshop. Participants will have the opportunity to share their own works along with discussing other poetry, fiction, and non-fiction pieces. No writing experience is necessary and sharing your own work is optional!
In Righting and Rewriting, we will explore the power of creative writing and how, just maybe, we can use it to right the wrongs we’ve faced.