From Brokenness to Healing: Making Meaning through Memoir

April 18, 25, May 2, 9, 16, 23, 2023
12:00–1:30 p.m. EST

How can we make meaning from returning to a challenging or traumatic life experience on the page? What does it mean to write from the scar rather than the wound? And how can we find a spiritual lens in which to frame our trauma? In this six-week workshop, we will focus on the definition of trauma, how returning to it can help heal, how writing structure and pacing can help contain it, and how we can revision ourselves before and after. There will be opportunities to share work and receive feedback from the instructor on works in progress.

Ellen Blum Barish is the author of the spiritual memoir Seven Springs (Shanti Arts, 2021), the essay collection Views from the Home Office Window (Adams Street Publishing, 2007), and a contributor to Chicago Storytellers From Stage to Page (Chicago Story Press, 2020). You can find her personal essays in Tablet, Lilith, Brevity’s Blog, Full Grown People, Literary Mama, and The Chicago Tribune and hear them on Chicago Public Radio. She founded the literary publication Thread, which earned four notables in Best American Essays. Ellen has taught writing at Northwestern University, Chicago-area synagogues, and writer’s studios, including Story Studio Chicago and Lighthouse Lit Fest. She works privately with writers on essay collections and memoir.

All sessions will be recorded and sent to participants. We encourage live attendance for you to get the most out of the experience.