Addiction claims many victims -- not only those who suffer from it, but also their loved ones. Many studies have shown that writing can be effective for people in expressing and processing some of the complex, painful, and often stigmatized emotions that characterize the addiction experience. This workshop is designed to support people whose lives have been affected by a friend or family member's substance abuse. Our focus will be on narrating our own story (in prose or poetry) through a series of brief exercises and prompts, and sharing with others. Participants will be asked to commit to confidentiality. Knowledge of 12-Step recovery or mindfulness techniques may be helpful, but is not at all necessary.
Kate Daniels is the author of six collections of poetry, includingIn the Months ofMy Son’s Recovery, Three Syllables Describing,and A Walk in Victoria’s Secret. She teaches creative writing in the MFA program at Vanderbilt. A former Guggenheim Fellow, she has a longstanding interest in the convergence of creative writing and medicine, health, and society, and also teaches writing at the Washington-Baltimore Center for Psychoanalysis. Slow Fuse of the Possible: On Poetry and Psychoanalysis, a prose work, will be published in the fall of 2021. http://katedanielspoetryandprose.com/
“Kate Daniels is an inspiring and exceptionally knowledgeable teacher. I had specific goals for this class and which were completely met and I learned many other valuable things. I very much appreciated this class and the opportunity to learn from this highly qualified instructor.”
