Writing-for-Peace
TO CONSOLE THE SOUL AND LISTEN TO “THE OTHER” …
This workshop is on demand, and the fee negotiable.
A workshop specifically designed for people from opposite warring nations or communities, past or present. It can be offered to high school students and LAUSD teachers, as well as in community centers and private homes.
In an atmosphere of non-judgment and respect for the human soul, we gather to write stories borne of conflict, war and atrocity. We go beneath rhetoric and political agendas to the personal experience, to just telling the story.
Imagine what can happen when a writer whose ancestors dropped bombs on a certain population writes together with someone who was a victim of that bombing. What kind of bridges can be formed when we listen to each others’ stories with compassion? Can such listening to “the other” empower us as peacemakers and artists?
Writing the pain and trauma out of our bodies and souls is transformational. Bringing out into the light of day that which has been hidden and denied creates more space inside ourselves to breathe, and allows us to act more effectively. Turning wounds into literature is an act of defiance, an act of self-preservation, and a step toward personal and global healing and peace.
What participants say: