e-Voice

...an online e-zine to, for, by and about
Women Writing for (a) Change

December 15, 2007

 In this issue (Click to view)

  Registration is Now Open

New - Writing and Ritual

New - Online Writing Circle

The Abundance of 2007

Last Chance - Winter Retreat

A Circle of Support

Save the Date: YWCA - 1/11

Save the Dates: Dec and Jan Samplers

Save the Date: Joseph-Beth 1/27

 Radio Circle Update

Prompt

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Online Circle Collaborators (l-r): Aaron Rose-Milavec, Phebe Beiser, Mary Pierce Brosmer, Karen Waters

Registration time - Winter and Spring Classes! 

Registration is open for semester classes!  Remember to register early because classes fill up fast.  Winter/Spring Semester begins on  January 28th, 2008.  For schedules and more information, or to reserve your spot online, visit the CLASSES PAGE of our website.

It's also a great gift idea!

In with the New!

As we grow, we change to meet the needs of our students.  Here are a couple of our new offerings for 2008. 

Writing & Ritual:  a new adventure with Phebe Beiser

If you've taken any Women Writing for (a) Change class, you're already familiar with ritual. Passing the candle, readbacks--these are two of the mainstays of our writing circles. When I was being trained in the Feminist Leadership Academy, we explored some with tarot and found it to be a rich experience. In the summer class I taught, we worked with a theme of the five elements. When I co-taught Living and Leading like a Poet, I facilitated a moving ritual for Day of the Dead where people brought photos of an ancestor or friend who had passed on. I would like to do more of this. I see it as extending beyond our words, where words don't reach, working with the spirit. It is about the class connecting and we will rely on intuition from the students as well as the teacher. If this intrigues you or calls to you, please register for this exciting new coed class on Tuesday nights!  ~ Phebe

Online Circle with Catherine College

Six months ago, FLA graduates Karen Waters and Phebe Beiser teamed up with Deb and Aaron Rose-Milavec of Catherine College to experiment with Women Writing for (a) Change on the web.  Adapting the rituals was a challenge, but they recruited six women to test drive the online writing circle last fall.  It was a success, so on January 7^th, 2008, a ten-week writing circle will convene.  Registration will be held on a first come, first served basis.  For more information and registration, click the registration link.   

2007--A Year of Abundance

As we near the end of this amazing year of abundance, we also approach the closing of our Capital Campaign.  After we were able to purchase the building in June, the campaign entered a quiet phase to
shift the focus from individual donations to private grants and corporate grants in order to build the endowment for future building renovations and a secure scholarship fund.  We have received an
additional $20,000 this fall from two foundations!  A final report will be available in February.  In the meantime, keep your fingers crossed with us that more of our grant applications will be approved.  Thank you so much for all of your support so far--Women Writing for (a) Change has a permanent home in Cincinnati because of your generosity.  It is still possible to make a pledge or a donation
to the capital campaign fund by clicking here.

Last Call for Winter Writing Retreat - Jan. 4-6!

Featuring time for writing, time for reflection and sharing of work in both large and small group session.  Facilitated by Mary Pierce Brosmer - Founder of WWfaC and the Feminist Leadership Academy, Leading Woman in Arts & Entertainment, 2006, Athena Award Finalist, 2007.  Held at the Moye Spiritual Life Center, Melbourne, KY (10 minutes from NKU, 15 minutes from Downtown Cincinnati)

$375 includes food, lodging and all sessions

Register or more information - Women Writing for a Change - visit our Retreat Webpage  - or call 513 272-1171

Circle of Support

As the year winds down, please consider a Circle of Support -  an intentional way to share your abundance with those less fortunate.  Did you know that the WWf(a)C Foundation reaches out to young girls and teens through a series of Community Partnerships?  These after-school programs, sponsored by the Foundation, are ten-week sessions, where YWWfaC teachers visit schools and community settings, creating writing circles for up to 15 girls per writing circle. 

The cost to provide each program averages $1,200.  This means that for only $80, one girl can participate in a ten-week writing circle.  Would you consider helping to sponsor a young girl?    Here are a few of the comments these young writers have made, after experiencing A YWWfaC writing circle:

"I can't believe how good it feels just to be listened to."

"I feel stronger, knowing that I can speak my truths."

"I have learned to understand my classmates in a whole new way."

The WWf(a)C Foundation is a 501(c)3 nonprofit, so your gift is tax deductible. If you know people in your circle looking for ways to invest in something with lasting value, please ask them to consider supporting the WWf(a)C Foundation Community Partnership Programs.

Antonia Glosby at Joseph-Beth

YWCA Read- around  - Friday, January 11, 2008 from 6-8pm, Women Writing for (a) Change Foundation will be hosting a reception and public readaround at the YWCA Women's Art Gallery downtown. The theme for the event is "Conversations: Celebrating the Mysteries and Joys of Growing Up." This evening will serve as the closing reception for the artwork of Kay Muir, a legendary artist from Cincinnati who continues to paint well into her nineties.  Click the POSTCARD LINK to learn more about this event (in PDF format).

Samplers on Dec. 15 and Jan. 19  Visit our SAMPLER link for details.

Joseph Beth Booksellers Read-around - Jan. 27, Sun,6-7 pm.  The Tuesday morning class will share their wisdom, humor and stories.  Bring a friend and enjoy!  No RSVP required. 

From the Radio Circle

The women of the Radio Circle are learning how to podcast using Garage Band software. It will take us a month or so to get up to speed, but then we'll be ready for your submissions. The podcasts will be recorded at WWFaC. The host will be Mary Pierce Brosmer, plus others who are in training now. We will have the capability to edit and add music to the show, and to vary its format from show to show if we wish. 
 
You can get in on the ground floor of this new venture! If you have ideas for a show, pieces you would like to read, themes you would like to see addressed, let us know. Get your small group together and submit a show. The possibilities are limited only by our imaginations. 
 
Please EMAIL your submissions by clicking the link.  We plan to be podcasting by January, 2008. 

Writing Prompt for Mid-December...

This is the season of darkness, when green turns brown, nature slows down, when seeds germinate, and roots silently replenish the stem.  This is both the END and the BEGINNING, this cycle of BIRTHING that is in all living things, we humans included.

Read Rilke's poem, below.  What IMAGES need birthing in your life?  What is in your future, waiting to be born?  What are you WAITING for?  What future can you IMAGINE is entering you NOW? 

Try replicating Rilke's short poem.  Or make a list of futures you are imagining.  Or write a letter telling about all those things that have been "born" through you.

You must give birth

You must give birth to your images.

They are the future waiting to be born.

Fear not the strangeness you feel.

The future must enter you

                long before it happens.

Just wait for the birth,

For the hour of the new clarity.

Rainer Maria Rilke