"Portland Women Writers creates the best kind of community. A safe and sacred circle where women can speak the truth, create, and come to know their hidden talents. There is some kind of magic that happens in these circles. They are life changing."
~Bonnie Minden Ward, PWW participant
"I am so full of gratitude for Dawn and all you ladies of Portland Women Writers—for the transformative experience of holding sacred space in writing circles to cultivate voices and tell stories. So much of this book exists because of the space I'm honored to share with you."
-Ash Good, author of "These Things Will Never Happen Quite Like That Again."
"I don’t know how to say to you exactly the thanks that I need and want to. While visiting and stewing in all of the family narratives, I was so thankful to have taken classes with you. There is something about being in the circle and watching you hold space that, in borrowing a tiny pinch of this alchemy, it allowed me to be so present and in the moment with my grandmother. We went through photo albums I have never seen before and she told me all sorts of stories about her childhood and her war years that I had never heard. I have written about her quite a bit in our groups, and unearthing those memories and tying the past to the present meant so much to us both...I hope you know how valuable this work is and how lingering the impact."
~K.M., PWW participant
"...what a joy it was to participate in a weekly writing practice with Portland Women Writers. To put the negative voices on hold and let my scribbling hand and free-associating mind see where they would leap in response to the outstanding prompts and exercises. For me, this approach both invited and sustained what I can only call a "sacred" space; the voices that emerged around its circle rang heartfelt, lively, and deeply true. I now have a notebook full of raw material to mine for future poems and stories. How great a gift is that?"
~Nancy Flynn, poet, PWW participant
Writing our stories, whether they originate from our lives or our imagination is a sacred act that heals and transforms us. When we write we remember who we are. We reconnect with parts of ourself that have gone into hiding and thereby practice the art of reclaiming our wholeness. We connect with the voice beneath the voice.
Writing in community is soul work. It takes us down to the blessed dark where our stories of loss and grief, transformation and becoming await. We gather the ash and hard, black coal from these stories and through our writing build a new fire to live by.
Writing in community renews us. Through our writing we envision. We imagine. We pull ourselves back to the light on the wings of our natural creative genius. We transcend. We soar.
When we commit ourselves to a regular writing practice we learn to listen to the great intelligence of the heart and our writer's voice becomes strong and sure.
In the company of other women we are inspired, encouraged and forever changed.
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