Survivors of sexual violence, domestic violence or human trafficking are invited to attend a free weekend writing workshop scheduled to take place June 2 and 3 at the Edmonton Sexual Assault Centre.
“We have room for 25 people looking at furthering their healing through writing,” said Karen Smith, executive director of the Edmonton Sexual Assault Centre.
Anne Ream and Clifton Spargo, two American writers from the Voices and Faces Project, a non-profit documentary project based in Chicago, will facilitate the workshop.
Ream, a reporter at the Chicago Tribune began the Voices and Faces Project. In her own writing she lobbies against the societal pressures that keep victims of sexual abuse silent. Twenty years ago Ream was kidnapped and raped by a stranger.
Spargo, a professor of English language at Marquette University and a lecturer in creative writing at Yale University, is a literary advisor to The Voices and Faces Project. His own writing includes The Holocaust, Literature and Culture and a fictional work Glimmer Train Stories.
This is the first time The Stories We Tell writing workshop will be held in Canada and it’s the result of collaboration between assault centres across the country. The event, including lunch for participants, is entirely sponsored by the Hamilton Community Foundation, which provided a $5,000 grant so that it could take place.
“Sexual assault organizations from eight Canadian cities worked together on a project called Making a Difference Canada. We thought we would try introducing the Voices and Faces Project to Canada and the Edmonton Sexual Assault Centre was chosen as the first host,” Smith said.
Participants do not need strong writing skills to take part in the workshop.
“It doesn’t matter if they have Grade 4 writing skills or a PhD. We do ask them to submit a sample of their writing so we know they can read and write. They will be writing with pen and paper unless they have a disability in which case they may use a laptop,” Smith said.
Writing is a tool that may help people heal from trauma, Smith said.
“You look into yourself and in a safe way, pull it out of the box where it has been sitting, festering. Often writing triggers emotion. We will have a psychologist on site,” she said.
The stories will be privately written, Smith said, and belong totally to the writer.
“It may stir memories in you, but it’s a safe place to let them out. No one has to hear it or see it and it can be incredibly healing.”
For more information about Anne Ream’s work visit www.voicesandfaces.org.
Both men and women are invited to apply to take part in The Stories We Tell: A Writing Workshop For Survivors of Sexual Violence, Domestic Violence and Human Trafficking. Phone The Edmonton Sexual Assault Centre, 780-423-4102, for an application form or visit the centre at #205, 14964 - 121A Ave.
