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Combating Violence by Composing a Better World

Creativity and Social Justice Workshop

The 3-part workshop will explore the question, “How has writing been used to decrease violence and social injustice in the past, and how might we use writing to create peace now?”

Kylie Quave and Pamela Presser, professors at the George Washington University offer these three workshops on Combating Violence by Composing a Better World.  The workshops explore the question, “How has writing been used to decrease violence and social injustice in the past, and how might we use writing to create peace now?”  Each workshop will celebrate a heritage month - Women's History Month, Asian American and Pacific Islander Month, and LGBT/ Disability Month.  The program will afford individuals a platform to address these issues, foster resident activism, strengthen the public library as an anchor institution in the community.

Each workshop will begin with a brief mindfulness meditation to prepare for writing.  The professors will present a short talk on an exemplar writer, summarizing the accomplishments of the writer, and drawing a connection between the historical situations the writer was addressing and the issues we are struggling with today. They will then teach the audience a writing technique known as freewriting, designed to break through writing blocks and generate ideas.  They will offer a prompt, drawing on the themes of the workshop, for everyone to write about. Audience members will then have a chance to share their writing.  Finally,  a reading list on the topics discussed will be provided.  

March session on Women's Legacies - Wednesday, March 29, 2023  2:00 - 3:00 PM
In recognition of Women's History Month, we'll examine some examples of ways that women writers have influenced each other over the decades. We'll discuss how women's writing can reach across decades and even centuries, inspiring others agitating for social change, and how women can serve as mentors and models for each other as we engage in new but enduring conversations about violence and inequality. 

We will highlight two pairs of writers, focusing on the ways that feminist activist Sarah Ahmed is influenced by novelist Virginia Woolf, and activist Alice Walker's championing of novelist and anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston's work. Participants will consider and write about ways that women important to them have sparked their own interest in writing or acting for social justice. What kind of legacy have other women left for us today? What ideas and inspiration can we take from them to generate our own action toward creating a more peaceful, less violent world?

This workshop series is for adults only.  Prior registration for each workshop is required.  

For more information, please contact Jay at  georgetownlibrary@dc.gov or call 202-727-0241.

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