Why We Write:

So the first and most important thing to understand is that we write from necessity; that our writing is a form of cultural and spiritual self-defense. To live surrounded by a popular culture in which we do not appear is a form of spiritual erasure that leaves us vulnerable to all the assaults a society can commit against those it does not recognize. Not to be recognized, not to find oneself in history, or in film, or in television, or in books, or in popular songs, or in what is studied at school leads to the psychic disaster or ceasing to recognize oneself.

This is why we write: to see ourselves on the page. To confirm our presence. To clear a space where we can examine the lives we live, not as the sexy girlfriends, petty crooks and crime victims of TV cop shows, and not as statistical profiles in which hardship, bravery and resourcefulness lose all personality, but in our own physical and emotional reality. -Aurora Levins Morales

WCC Writers’ Workshop

WCC is doing a writers’ workshop this February 2010 and the goal is to write everyday for a month. This session runs February 1-31. You can write as little or as much as you want in any format – poetry, journal entry, short story, article – but the point is to write every day. We’ll also have weekly prompts available to get you started, but responding to them is not required. So if you want to get back into your writing groove and join up with a community of bad ass female and trans writers from across the globe, post a link to your blog in the comments. If you don’t have a blog, you can start one at wordpress.com. We also love art postings of any medium from painting to video. This work can be uploaded into your posts.

View a list of past prompts.