Volume XI, Issue 24
June 14, 2022
Dear ,
Place matters. It matters to us as human beings, and it matters to us as writers. One of the most important gifts we can give our readers is the grounding of our stories in what's often called "a sense of place."
How well I remember, a number of years ago, reading on Sue Monk Kidd's website that she got stuck in writing her first novel, The Secret Life of Bees, after her main characters, Lily and Rosaleen, arrived in Tiburon. In the way that synchronicity tends to visit us as we immerse ourselves in our work, Kidd "happened to flip
through a book" that held a quote by the writer Eudora Welty: “People give pain, are callous and insensitive, empty and cruel . . . but place heals the hurt, soothes the outrage, fills the terrible vacuum that these human beings make.” She understood instantaneously that what she needed to do was "create a place that would do that for Lily."
For those of us who write nonfiction, in prose or in poetry, the places in our lives that we love, the places we have lived, and the places our ancestors came from are all rich fodder for our writing.
Though I consider myself a Charlottean, after having lived here nearly forty-four years, I spent my first three years in Cincinnati. Here I am behind the house our dad built himself out of redwood.
It was wonderful to get to go back and visit back when my friend Vivé Griffith was in graduate school at the University of Cincinnati. She came with me, and we spent hours with the,
Griffings, the couple who'd bought the house from my parents back in 1959. There we were, a Griffin, a Griffith, and two Griffings! Despite all the challenges life throws our way, there are always things to smile about as well, right?
Speaking of moving, and smiling, today's featured WordPlayer, Patrice Gopo, knows all places that matter, with roots that stretch from Jamaica to Alaska, and all the way to Africa as well. Patrice, who makes me smile every time she refers to me as her "literary mom" and to Judy Goldman, one of my first teachers, as her
"literary grandmom" has just come out with her first picture book, All the Places We Call Home, and I am planning to pick up my autographed copy at her author event at Park Road Books this coming Saturday at 11 a.m., with at least one of my grandchildren in tow, as Patrice will be reading her book, and there will be stickers and activities for kids.
Here's to all the places that matter to us and all the places you call home, in the world and in your imagination!
Love and light,
Upcoming WordPlay
THE GIFT OF MEMOIR
(Writing the Stories of Our Lives that Matter Most)
Our stories are a precious legacy. Writing them is a gift, not only to ourselves, but to those who love us—they’ll be treasured for generations to come. Come learn techniques to retrieve and record your life stories
of adventure, love, loss, success, and more.
Come learn a number of fun, easy approaches to your memoir writing endeavors. Workshop being held virtually via Zoom.
COST: FREE!
(Thanks to the Reynolda Manor Branch Library
of Winston-Salem)
WHERE: Wherever you are, on Zoom.
WHEN: Saturday, June 25th from 2:00 - 3:30 p.m.
TO REGISTER: Email Staci, one of my favorite librarians, at [email protected] to say you'd like to come and
she'll send you a link.
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THE HEALING POWER OF WORDS
(Writing as Renewal/Creating New Writing/
Tools for a Writing Life)
What benefits can writing provide – physically, mentally, spiritually? Are some ways of writing more healing than others? And can we create quality literary work as we heal? In this workshop that incorporates Dr. James Pennebaker’s ground-breaking ideas, we’ll discuss and implement ways to use writing as a
transformational tool. And, if you’re looking, you’ll find the genesis of new poetry, creative non-fiction, and/or fiction. Warning: Laughter likely. Inspiration guaranteed. Read more about this program here.
COST: FREE!
WHERE: 7015 Carnegie Boulevard, Charlotte, NC 28211
non-fiction, and/or fiction. Phone: (704) 416-5400
Get Directions.
WHEN: Thursday, June 23rd from 6:30 - 8:00 p.m.
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THE NURTURING NATURE OF WORDS—
AND OUR WORLD
Reconnect with the natural world through the words of writers who invite us into a reciprocal, healing relationship with it, including Henry David Thoreau, Mary Oliver, Wendell Berry, and Robin Wall Kimmerer. We'll use passages of their works to inspire writing about our own experiences with nature, and to deepen our
appreciation for its gifts. We'll also explore a number of fun, easy methods to help your words flow, whatever your level of writing experience.
COST: $119
WHEN: Monday - Thursday, August 8 -11, 3:30 - 5:30 p.m.
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WRITING OUR OWN PROFILES IN COURAGE
When have you experienced courage—your own, or anyone else's? What was its source? How can we become more courageous? Come explore these questions, and others, through holistic, whole-brain methods of writing that will open your mind, heart, and spirit to your own growth, and to our human potential to keep growing.
Ideal for those interested in expanding their writing and their relationship to self, others and the world—for personal expression or publication.
COST: $119
WHEN: Monday - Thursday, August 15 -18, 3:30 - 5:30 p.m.
More WordPlay opportunities here.
Featured WordPlayer
Meet Patrice Gopo
"Maureen’s advice and wisdom helped me to make space
to value my writing alongside the ordinary acts of raising my girls.
Her attitude of being kind and gracious to ourselves helped me recognize that while I may not always have extended time to write, there is much I can accomplish in the in-between moments
of engaging in regular life."
Patrice Gopo is an award-winning essayist. Her work has appeared in a variety of publications, including Catapult, Creative Nonfiction, and Charlotte Magazine. She is the author of All the Colors We Will See, a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers selection. Her debut picture book, All the Places We Call Home, is now available. Patrice lives with her family in Charlotte.
Saturday, June 18th @ 11am @ Park Road Books
Wednesday, June 29th @ 1pm @ Pig City Books
Friday, July 1st @ 10:00am @ Main Street Books
Saturday, July 9th @ 11 am hosted by Shelves Bookstore
I'm planning to be at Park Road Books this Saturday and would love to see you there!
What Patrice says about WordPlay
When I moved to Charlotte back in January of 2011, I had been writing a little over a year. The words were filling pages of my spiral-bound
notebook, but I didn't know where to go next or what to do with my work. A Google search landed me at WordPlay's website. I signed up for Maureen's Summer Solstice retreat, then her class on writing micro essays, then her class on writing as a healing process, then her Under Construction class . . . Well, you get the idea. Aside from being filled with wonderful writing information, thoughtful prompts, and encouraging words, Maureen helped me stand on my writing legs. I arrived in her class with
wobbly limbs, unsure if what I did counted as writing or even mattered. Maureen's affirmations about my work strengthened those shaky writing legs. She helped give me confidence to stand tall and believe that I am a writer.
Maureen’s own writing journey has consistently served as an inspiration to me. I know she began her journey in the midst of raising young
children. To see what she had done across the expanse of raising a family helped me to believe what might be possible for my own story.
In addition to everything I mentioned above, Maureen’s attitude toward engaging with words has inspired so many of us to take risks with our work. To try something different. To see what might blossom as we take a new creative road (I might have mixed my metaphors there :) ). What a gift
Maureen offers all of us WordPlayers as she inspires us to play with words. Although I began my writing life as an essayist, I am now also a children’s book author. My debut picture book, All the Places We Call
Home, illustrated by the incredible Jenin Mohammed, releases this week with Hachette Book Group/Worthy Kids. I know Maureen’s early encouragement to play with words and try things certainly influenced my thinking as I branched out into picture books. Why not see what might happen? Why not? (If you’d like to learn more about my journey from essayist to picture book author, I write about that here.)
Featured Writing
a page from
The Last Great Adventure
by
Patrice
Gopo
WordPlay Now! Writing Prompt
This is WordPlay—so why not revel in the power and potential of one good word
after another? This week, it's "place."
PROMPT:
Here's a tool from my writing guide, Spinning Words into Gold, that I specifically designed to support you in creating a sense of place in your writing. I named this technique in honor of Madeleine L’Engle, whose work I’ve loved since I read A Wrinkle in Time when I was
thirteen. In this 1963 Newberry Medal winner, Meg, with her brother Charles Wallace and her friend Calvin, “tesser” through space with the wise Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Which, and Mrs. Who.
“Tesser” is another name for a wrinkle in time, illustrated by Mrs. Who as she holds a portion of her white robe in each hand and then brings her two hands together—voila, the space between them wrinkled away. When I read about Apparition in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, I thought immediately of Tessering. Apparating with Dumbledore felt to Harry like being “forced
through a very tight rubber tube.” Tessering, according to Meg, is pretty darn uncomfortable, too. That doesn’t stop me from wishing I could try it. What appeals to me about these imaginary forms of travel is the ability to be in another place, and even another time, so quickly. And doesn’t writing give us that opportunity? Many of us read for the sheer delight of transcending time, space, and even identity.
The Tesser, as an entry to writing, is designed to put you—in your mind’s eye—in any particular place and time so that you can write about it as vividly as if you were actually there. You will be creating a scene, complete with setting and character(s). And you don’t even have to be squished and squeezed in the process.
Here's how to do it:
MAUREEN RYAN GRIFFIN, an award-winning poetry and nonfiction writer, is the author of Spinning Words into Gold, a Hands-On Guide to the Craft of Writing, two grief, healing, and gratitude workbooks entitled How Do I Say Goodbye? and Praying You Goodbye, and three
collections of poetry, Ten Thousand Cicadas Can't Be Wrong, This Scatter of Blossoms and When the Leaves Are in the Water. She believes, as author Julia Cameron says, "We are meant to midwife dreams for one another."
Maureen also believes that serious "word work" requires serious WordPlay, as play is how we humans best learn—and perform. What she loves best is witnessing all the other dreams that come true for her clients along the way. Language, when used with intentionality and focus, is, after all, serious fuel for joy. Here's to yours!
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