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Moments Magnified

April 14, 2015 by Jeanette Stokes Leave a Comment

photo“Evocative, sensual, suspenseful.”

That’s how Carol Henderson described strong writing to 25 women who gathered on the first day of spring for Carol’s annual Resource Center weekend writing intensive. Many of the women were veterans of Carol’s writing workshops and dove in eagerly. Entitled “Moments Magnified,” the two-day workshop encouraged participants to write powerful vignettes about their lives, and leave with drafts of short pieces that would later begin to connect into a larger whole.

To inspire deep and thoughtful writing (with a dash of humor) Carol read earthy poems and threw out juicy prompts. In the light and airy Colony Hills Clubhouse, pens scratched and keyboards clicked, as participants reached into their lives for narrative themes that cut across time and memory.

A deeply personal writing journey for many blossomed into a community experience as well. Quiet writing periods were broken up by opportunities to share freshly generated writing. After finding inspiration and encouragement from each other, the writers would turn back to their own notebooks and computers for yet more writing.

The whole weekend was brought to a sweet and celebratory close with several participants’ readings, which shared beautiful, painful, and brave moments in their lives. The writing indeed turned out to be evocative, sensual, and suspenseful – moments magnified into something greater.

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Filed Under: Event Tagged With: carol henderson, Writing

About Jeanette Stokes

The day Jeanette graduated from Duke Divinity School in 1977, she turned to some friends and said, “They’ll be sorry.” With only had an inkling of what she would do next, she felt sure it would have something to do with women, faith, and social justice. A few months later, she and friends founded the Resource Center for Women and Ministry in the South, where she serves as the Executive Director. Not sure whether anyone was ever sorry they granted Jeanette and M.Div., she is sure that the last four decades of trying to change the landscape of religion in American has had at least some marginal effect. Mostly her work has offered solace and support to others on the journey. A native of Tulsa, Oklahoma and a graduate of Smith College, Jeanette is the author of three collections of essays, 25 Years in the Garden, 35 Years on the Path, and Just Keep Going, and three memoirs, Hurricane Season: Living Through a Broken Heart, Flying Over Home, and Following a Female Line. She is happier if she spends some time each week walking, writing, painting, and messing around in the garden.

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