PHOTO: Mary van Balen – View from my apartment Apartment 7 has a new couch and chairs, new beds, but the same wall of windows overlooking the lake. From the moment the door opened up, I felt at home. This was the same apartment I lived in a few years ago while a resident scholar at the Collegeville Institute. I am honored to have been invited back for a weeklong writing workshop on spiritual autobiographical memoir directed by Lauren Winner.( Still: Notes on a Mid-Faith Crisis; Girl Meets God)
Along with eleven other women from across the country, I will be spending the days writing, workshopping one another’s pieces, and learning about the craft of memoir. Of course there is time for conversation, making new friends, and praying with the monks in the Abbey Church.Uncharacteristically, I woke early and walked up the hill with two other participants for morning prayer. I have grown to love the slow deliberate praying of the Psalms, sometimes reading, sometimes chanting.
The week holds much promise not only for learning more about the genre and developing skills of the craft, but also for hearing the stories of eleven amazing women. The conversation is rich as are the experiences we bring to the table.
A needed time of Grace. Thanks be to God!
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