Creation myths are not just stories where something is created; they are explanations of how life came to exist and how the world was formed. You may be asking: What do creation myths have to do with writing? Edwidge Danticat writes: “All artists, writers among them, have several stories—one might call them creation myths—that haunt and obsess them."
In this class, we’ll discuss and examine: What are your personal creations myths? How have they shaped you? How can excavating them in your writing foster transformation? We will read authors Edwidge Danticat, Robin Wall Kimmerer, SJ Sindu, and Linda Hogan, and we will dig into our lives to uncover and write about the creation myths that permeate our stories.
Vanessa Mártir is a big-hearted, 1980s Brooklyn-raised bocona learning the heartbeat of silence in the countryside of upstate NY; an oil-and-water combination of imposter syndrome, ambition, procrastination, certainty, insecurity and drive. Vanessa writes essays, memoir and novels, is a wanna be poet & playwright, and the creator of the Writing Our Lives Workshop; the Writing the Mother Wound Movement, and most recently the Write Your Abortion Story class. Vanessa has been widely published including in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, Longreads, Poets & Writers, The Rumpus, Aster(ix) Journal, and the New York Times' Bestselling anthology Not That Bad, edited by Roxane Gay, among others. She has partnered with Tin House and The Rumpus to publish WOL alumni, and with Longreads and NYU's Latinx Project to publish Mother Wound essays. She has also served as guest editor of Aster(ix) and The James Franco Review. When she's not writing or teaching, you can find Vanessa in her garden or hiking in an old growth forest. Find out more about her relentless belief in our stories at vanessamartir.com.
"Vanessa is one of the best writing teachers ever. I always learn so much from her, and feel so inspired."
"Vanessa Martir was an excellent leader for our class. She was warm and welcoming and inspiring. I felt her passion on the topic and her love for the craft."
"Vanessa added a lot of insight and allowed others to do the same. She was very personable, warm, and understanding."
