Sarah Pemberton Kastrup
Certified NLP Master Practitioner, AWA writing group leader,
MA in Elementary Education
Certified NLP Master Practitioner, AWA writing group leader,
MA in Elementary Education
(503) 771-3173
writenowportland@gmail.com
10 Thursday Mornings | 10-11:45 am | September 8- November 17, 2022 | $375
When you join the Time to Write Writing Group, you create space in your life to step into an intimate relationship with yourself and to experience and enjoy our shared humanity. You will generate new material that is honest and fresh. We hope you will leave each week a little bit expanded, a little bit changed, breathing a little bit deeper because of the connection with yourself and with the other writers.
Writing prompts are based on open ended topic ideas from Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg and various poems that spark images, feelings, and moments.
Based on the Amherst Writer's and Artist's method. You will find more information about this method below.
We will meet on zoom on Thursday mornings, September 8-November 17 (skipping October 27th).
Writing prompts are based on open ended topic ideas from Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg and various poems that spark images, feelings, and moments.
Based on the Amherst Writer's and Artist's method. You will find more information about this method below.
We will meet on zoom on Thursday mornings, September 8-November 17 (skipping October 27th).
“Whether your purpose for writing is artistic expression, communication with friends and family, the healing of the inner life, or achieving public recognition for your art - the foundation is the same: the claiming of yourself as an artist/writer and the strengthening of your writing voice through practice."
- Pat Schneider (creator of the AWA method), from Writing Alone and with Others
- Pat Schneider (creator of the AWA method), from Writing Alone and with Others
New Year Vision Retreat - Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica
New Year Vision Retreat | January 23-30, 2021 | Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica - Postponed to 2022
Launch the new year with vision – a clear intention about who you are and what matters most to you.
Join us for a week of clarity, creativity and connection at nature’s edge, on the Osa peninsula in Costa Rica. In this uniquely vibrant place, we will blend the practices of yoga, free writing, play and communion with nature to create your personal Life Brief, a living document that captures what matters most to YOU. This is an invaluable tool for making decisions and taking action in your relationships, your work and for yourself.
Your discoveries will be captured into language that you will take home with you in the form of The Life Brief – along with a clear set of actions, and a fire in your belly. This is your north star, your deepest wisdom, and the starting place for all that you create for yourself and the world over the next 10 years.
With the New Year Vision Retreat, you will enter your next chapter with courage, clarity and creativity.
Who: An intimate gathering of 20 people from across the globe
When: January 23-30, 2021
Where: Luna Lodge, Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica
About the Amherst Writer's and Artist's Method:
We hold the following 5 essential affirmations in our writing groups:
1. Everyone has a strong, unique voice.
2. Everyone is born with creative genius.
3. Writing as an art form belongs to all people, regardless of economic class or educational level.
4. The teaching of craft can be done without damage to a writer's original voice or self-esteem.
5. A writer is someone who writes.
“Whether your purpose for writing is artistic expression, communication with friends and family, the healing of the inner life, or achieving public recognition for your art - the foundation is the same: the claiming of yourself as an artist/writer and the strengthening of your writing voice through practice, study, and helpful response from other writers.”
- Pat Schneider, from Writing Alone and With Others
- Pat Schneider, from Writing Alone and With Others
The Amherst Writers & Artists' philosophy is a simple one: every person is a writer, and every writer deserves a safe environment in which to experiment, learn, and develop craft. The AWA method, which is fully described in founder Pat Schneider's book Writing Alone and With Others (Oxford University Press, 2003, and available at www.patschneider.com), provides just such an environment.
Peter Elbow, author of Writing Without Teachers, brought the writing process movement into classrooms across the U.S. In his the introduction to Writing Alone and With Others, he called Pat Schneider “the best teacher of writing I know.” The practices outlined in the book have proven effective in graduate school classrooms and in work with the homeless, in children’s schoolrooms, with nursing students, in bereavement groups and in living rooms among friends.
Unique to the AWA method, at the time of the publication of the book, are these two revolutionary practices:
Everything in the writing workshop is treated as fiction, to keep the focus on the writing rather than the personal and to minimize the vulnerability of the writer. The teacher or leader writes with the participants, and reads aloud along with the other writers.
These practices, along with keeping all writing confidential, responding to just-written work with positive attention on what is strong in the writing, create an environment that is non-hierarchical, honest, and safe. Accomplished and beginning writers learn from one another in a generous atmosphere that works seriously to develop craft and holds personal respect for the value of every voice.
The AWA method has been used successfully with experienced writers as well as beginners, writers who have confidence as well as those who are uncertain. It has been equally effective in helping those whose voices have traditionally been silenced by poverty, discrimination, illness, age or other obstacles to achieving the powerful combination of language and confidence needed to overcome social barriers. While the AWA method is not therapy, it has great healing potential for writers from all backgrounds. Writers who have used the AWA method have published major works and taken top prizes and awards in the U.S. and Ireland, and over a thousand have completed the AWA training program in workshop leadership.
Peter Elbow, author of Writing Without Teachers, brought the writing process movement into classrooms across the U.S. In his the introduction to Writing Alone and With Others, he called Pat Schneider “the best teacher of writing I know.” The practices outlined in the book have proven effective in graduate school classrooms and in work with the homeless, in children’s schoolrooms, with nursing students, in bereavement groups and in living rooms among friends.
Unique to the AWA method, at the time of the publication of the book, are these two revolutionary practices:
Everything in the writing workshop is treated as fiction, to keep the focus on the writing rather than the personal and to minimize the vulnerability of the writer. The teacher or leader writes with the participants, and reads aloud along with the other writers.
These practices, along with keeping all writing confidential, responding to just-written work with positive attention on what is strong in the writing, create an environment that is non-hierarchical, honest, and safe. Accomplished and beginning writers learn from one another in a generous atmosphere that works seriously to develop craft and holds personal respect for the value of every voice.
The AWA method has been used successfully with experienced writers as well as beginners, writers who have confidence as well as those who are uncertain. It has been equally effective in helping those whose voices have traditionally been silenced by poverty, discrimination, illness, age or other obstacles to achieving the powerful combination of language and confidence needed to overcome social barriers. While the AWA method is not therapy, it has great healing potential for writers from all backgrounds. Writers who have used the AWA method have published major works and taken top prizes and awards in the U.S. and Ireland, and over a thousand have completed the AWA training program in workshop leadership.