Date: June 22, 2019
Time: 11am-6pm
Place: West Village, NYC
Price: $180 (non refundable deposit of $40 required to hold your seat)

If you grew up like me, you were taught that mother is the holiest of holy. She is a saint. She is the altar you are to sacrifice yourself at, again and again and again.

But what about those of us for whom mother is abyss?

What about those of us for whom wasn’t encouraging or supportive?

What about those of us for whom mother was (and still is) neglectful and abusive?

What about those of us who know mother did the best she could but the child you still didn’t get what she needed?

Have you wanted to write about your antagonistic relationship with your mother but don’t know how? Have you found it difficult to dig into these memories? Do you not know how to even begin?

Have you dealt with backlash when you dared to talk or write about your relationship with your mother? Were you told: solo hay una madre (there is only one mother), called ungrateful, treasonous, a traitor? Or have you imagined the scenario and been paralyzed by it? Have you internalized this shame?

I created this class for you.

In the Writing the Mother Wound intensive, we will:

* Answer the question: What is the mother wound?
* Consider the work of therapists and psychologists who’ve studied the longstanding effects of the mother wound and being the child of a narcissistic parent.
* Examine how writers have written about the mother wound in various genres including essays, poems, novels, memoirs and short stories.

To be clear, this isn’t therapy. I am not a therapist. I am a writer who writes a great deal about her own mother wound, and has read obsessively about it in my own healing journey, so I know firsthand how difficult it is to broach this topic, and have found that reading the work of others who have dared to do so, has helped me write my own.

The goals of the class are to:

* Read how other writers navigate and approach the mother wound through their writing;
* Examine this writing and discuss it through a critical lens;
* Use these writings as inspiration to write about our mother wounds;
* Work on freeing ourselves of the shame we carry over daring to want/need to write about our mothers and our relationships with our mothers in a realistic light;
* Share our writing in a safe space
* Find community in our work and understand that despite how isolating this journey can be (as writers, as folks who navigate “not ideal” relationships with their mothers), we are not alone in it…

Why did I create the Writing the Mother Wound One Day Intensive Class?

This is a condensed version of the six week online and in person class I launched in 2018, and is a direct result of the extremely successful Writing the Mother Wound Panel which I moderated at AWP (Association of Writers and Writing Programs) 2019 in Portland in late March. I will be re-launching the six week class in the Fall of 2019. More information soon.

I created the Mother Wound Class because:

It was in literature that I found answers to so many of the questions I had about having an antagonistic relationship with my mother.

Because researching and devouring stories about strained mother-daughter relationships helped me believe that I could write my story too.

Because I have amassed so much information and knowledge in my journey that I know it’s time to share what I’ve learned in reading these countless books and poems and essays and short stories and studies.

Because it was in reading that I found the term “unmothered”, a term that describes what I am and have been since I left my mother’s home at 13 and never moved back; how I’ve existed unanchored in the world; and what that’s meant to me. Finding this made me realize I wasn’t alone in my suffering, and made me seek out the work of people like me.

Because when I came up with the idea, it dawned on me that this was evidence that I could make something beautiful of my suffering, and it made me weep.

Because I know now that I’ve been unconsciously working towards this class for a long time.

Because it is my duty and honor to share what I’ve learned in my journey to dismantling the mother myth in my life.

Because I know now that this is my life’s work. 

Join us.

Date: June 22, 2019
Time: 11am-6pm
Place: West Village, NYC
Price: $180 (non refundable deposit of $40 required to hold your seat)

To register and/or ask questions, etc., email me at writingourlivesworkshop@gmail.com with Writing the Mother Wound One-Day Intensive in the subject box.

Financial Aid Information: 

There is one need-based partial scholarship available to a mother who fits the following criteria:
* Is a woman or non-binary person of color.

* Is a single mom.
* Is unemployed or underemployed, and can not afford the intensive otherwise.

To apply, please send a letter to writingourlivesworkshop@gmail.com detailing how you qualify for the scholarship and why you think you are ready for this class now. Please also write Writing the Mother Wound One-Day Intensive Scholarship in the subject box.