New Spring Classes

New Youth Program Kicks Off Monday

Say what you want to say in our new spring classes, where everyone is free to speak

Dear friend:

Not that many years ago, in 1991, our founder, Mary Pierce Brosmer, was teaching high school students—girls as well as boys—when the president of the local school board decided he should intervene. He didn’t like the books that Mary was using in her classes. He was offended by Natalie Goldberg’s classic, Writing Down The Bones: Freeing the Writer Within. Apparently he did not want those young voices freed, including his daughter’s, who happened to be in Mary’s class.

The powers that be asked Mary to refrain from using these “feminist” books. No thanks, she said. She decided instead to form her own school, where women and girls would be free to say what they wanted to say, to write what they wanted to write, to read what they wanted to read.

Today, here in Florida especially, we find the need for the safe space that we provide to be more important than ever. Which is why we’re offering a new series of free classes called CURRENTS for high school students (young women, trans, and nonbinary) that will allow them to process their feelings about the tide of current events affecting them, including big topics like climate change, the war in the Ukraine, and what to say when they’re told, “Don’t Say Gay.” 

More Adult Classes Starting Next Week

And there’s more! We’re offering many new programs and events in April, including:

• Sunday, April 3, Write + Hike: A Writing Adventure at Marjorie K. Rawlings State Park, 2-4 p.m. Includes tour, writing circle, and mini-hike.
• Monday, April 4 — Free Poetry Workshop for Jax Poetry Fest 12-1 p.m., at MOCA (more great, free classes all month!)
• Monday, April 4 — CURRENTS: For Young Women Writing for (a) Change, 4-5:30 p.m., for high school students
• Thursday, April 7 — OCEANS of Art (via Zoom), 6:30-9 p.m., online, led by faculty member Karen Allen
• Saturday, April 9 — Blooms Galore and More at the Garden Club (get copies of our latest Anthology), 9-3 p.m.
• Saturday, April 9 — St. Augustine PoetFest, 10 a.m. (plus Friday night activities)
• Saturday, April 9 — Sunshine State Book Festival, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. (plus more events the next day)
• Sunday, April 10 — First Coast Poetry Showcase, 2-4 p.m., a celebration of poets and poetry hosted by the North Florida Poetry Hub
• Tuesday, April, 12 — Mindfulness in the Park, 9:30-12, in person, led by faculty member Marilyn Jones
• Saturday, April 16 — Community ReadAround, Anthology (via Zoom), with founder Mary Pierce Brosmer, 3-5 p.m. (also a fundraiser)
• Saturday, April 23 — Spring Workshop: Cook + Write + Eat, in person, with guest artists Nancy Murrey-Settle and Elizabeth Reed, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

More details below. Click on any image to learn more or to register for each event. We hope to see you!

Cheers,
Jennifer Wolfe, Executive Director,
Women Writing for (a) Change Jacksonville
p.s. in support  of women, be sure to attend the Generation W  Connection conference this Friday, April 1!

What We’ve Been Up to Lately

Opening Weekend for Oceans

The OCEANS Exhibition, curated by Erin Kendrick and Princess Simpson Rashid, opened over a beautiful weekend with many speakers, artists, and community members sharing their perspectives and creating connections over ideas and art. More photos available on our website, HERE. Thanks to all who participated!