Writing Ourselves Whole

"Liberty is the right not to lie." - Camus via Califia

A blog about sexual healing, erotic writing, and the transformative power of words.

Monday, March 29, 2010

Spring workshops with Writing Ourselves Whole!

(please feel welcome to forward this information! thank you!)

Writing Ourselves Whole
Spring 2010 Workshops


This April, re-engage with the deep-rooted and transformative power of writing!

Join us in one of our exercise-initiated and non-judgmental AWA writing workshops:

Write Whole: Survivors Write
Monday evenings, 4/12 - 6/7
Open to all women survivors of sexual trauma

Declaring Our Erotic
Tuesday evenings, 4/13 - 6/8
Open to all (18+, please)

o In the Write Whole: Survivors Write workshop, you'll gather with other survivors of sexual trauma to create new art and new beauty out of life's difficult and complicated realities. Learn to trust the flow of your own writing, and receive immediate feedback about the power of your words!
Remember: identity categories like 'woman' and 'survivor' are self-defined!

o In the Declaring Our Erotic workshop, you'll try your hand at some explicit erotic writing, and, in so doing, will get more comfortable exploring and talking about sexual desires, explore the varied and complex aspects of sexuality and desire, receive strong and focused feedback about your new writing!

No previous writing experience necessary! Workshops held in San Francisco in an accessible space, a half-block from BART and on many MUNI lines. Spaces are still available, though limited, and pre-registration is required! Fee for each eight-week workshop is $225-300, sliding scale.

To register or with any questions, contact Jen at jennifer (at) writingourselveswhole.org.
For more information, please visit www.writingourselveswhole.org!

Labels: , , , , ,

Monday, January 4, 2010

Upcoming survivors and sexuality writing workshops: Write Whole: Survivors Write begins Jan 11!

Mission fishes -- graffiti near the Women's Building in SF
And we begin again!

~ Welcome in 2010 with some deep writing, community connections, and solidarity with your resilient artist self ~

Our 8-week Write Whole: Survivors Write (for all women survivors of sexual trauma) begins January 11, and we've got a half-day queer women's erotic writing workshop on Jan 30! More info on each is below; spaces are still available -- please let me know if you have any questions or would like to register -- I'd love to write with you!

Write Whole:
Survivors Write
Eight Monday eves. Begins Jan 11.
Open to all women survivors of sexual trauma!

Transform your relationship with your writing -- and with yourself. For survivors in particular, writing freely in supportive and attentive community opens us up to the possibility of being fully heard in all of our expression, creative and otherwise!

In this workshop, write in response to exercises chosen to elicit deep-heart writing, and deal with such subjects as: body image, family/community, sexuality, dreams, love, faith, and more. We create new art and new beauty out of the difficult and complicated realities of our lives.

You'll be encouraged to trust the flow of your writing voice, and receive immediate feedback about the power of your words!

Spaces are limited and pre-registration is required. Cost for the 8 week class is on a sliding scale, $225-300 (please contact me about payment plans or other money questions!)

To register, visit www.writingourselveswhole.org or email jennifer@writingourselveswhole.org.

About your facilitator: Jen Cross is a widely published freelance writer. She's a queer incest survivor who used writing as a transformative and integral part of her own healing process. She's a certified AWA Facilitator, has led writing workshops with survivors since 2002, and writes with folks about trauma, sexuality, and more. More info, always, at writingourselveswhole.org.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Also in January:

Declaring Our Erotic -- Let's write about sex!
Jan 30, 2010, 1-4pm
An erotic writing workshop for queer women -- in honor of the Body Heat: Femme Porn
Tour!

Ever read through a sexy short story and thought, "I'd like to do that!" This writing workshop is for queer* women who's considered writing erotic stories or writing about sex, or who'd like to get more comfortable doing so! No previous writing experience is necessary.

We each need safe space in which to be our whole erotic selves -- to delve into the fantasies and imaginings that we've learned or been told don't "go with" our public sexual identities. In this workshop we'll celebrate and struggle with the fullness of our erotic expression.

In this 3-hour class, you'll have the chance to try your hand at some explicit erotic writing. We'll write in response to exercises designed to tap into different aspects of our sexual selves: memory, fantasy, experience, relationship with the body, and more.

Don't be surprised if you find, as have previous participants, that you're more comfortable discussing your own sexual desires after practicing writing about fictional sex! Bring your notebooks or laptops and your most open mind.

When: Saturday, January 30, 2010, 1:00-4:00 PM
Where: writing ourselves whole workshop space, 870 Market St, SF!
Who: 18+
Cost: $20

To register, visit www.writingourselveswhole.org or email jennifer@writingourselveswhole.org.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

* and by 'queer women', I mean folks who identify as women (which doesn't mean you have to use the pronoun 'she') and also identify as lesbian, gay, genderqueer, dyke, butch, femme, tomboy, same-gender loving, "into women," boi, transbutch, stud, or...

Labels: , , , ,

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

12/17: Holiday Dirt: fecund new erotica! A benefit for writing ourselves whole...

Please help to spread the word! xoxoxo


Writing Ourselves Whole presents
~Holiday Dirt: fecund new erotica~
a benefit reading and celebration!


With special guest Carol Queen!
Featuring Alex Cafarelli, Lou Vaile, Amy Butcher, Renee Garcia, Jenn Meissonnier, Blyth Barnow and Jess Katz!

Burlesque! Sweet treats! Chapbooks!

When: Thursday, December 17, 7:30 SHARP
Cost: $10-50: sliding scale, no one turned away for lack of funds
Location: Center for Sex and Culture, 1519 Mission Street (between 11th and South Van Ness), San Francisco, CA 94103

Your winter holidays shaping up to be a bit too wholesome? Never fear -- join Jen Cross as she presents these fierce new works from the Writing Ourselves Whole workshops, sharp and sexy writing that will delightfully sully your holiday spirit and open your mind to all sorts of new reindeer/dreidel games!

Celebrate risky writing and readings -- let us inspire your erotic imagination.

~~ Can't make the reading on 12/17? You can still help writing ourselves whole! We are raising funds to pay for our workshop space: whatever you can give will help! Click the link/button below to use PayPal to send your donations. Thank you so much!







A fundraiser for Writing Ourselves Whole (Declaring Our Erotic/Write Whole workshops), which exists in the service of transforming trauma and/or struggles around sexuality into art, and creating spaces in which individuals may come to recognize the artist/writer within.

Holiday Dirt: fecund new erotica, 12/17/09

Labels: , , , , , , , , ,

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Announce: Summer 09 Workshops with Writing Ourselves Whole!

Writing Ourselves Whole:
transformative writing workshops for the SF Bay Area

Contact: Jen Cross
jennifer@writingourselveswhole.org
http://www.writingourselveswhole.org

Are you looking for an opportunity to create some new and powerful writing in an invigorating, supportive writing community? This June and July, Writing Ourselves Whole is pleased to be offering two full 8-week writing workshops and a Saturday writing retreat:

  • Write Whole: Survivors Write. Monday evenings, June 1 - July 27. Open to all women survivors of sexual trauma.

  • Declaring Our Erotic: Take back your sexuality! Tuesday evenings, June 2 - July 28. Open to queer-identified women survivors of sexual trauma.

  • Raw Silk, an erotic writing retreat open to all women! Saturday, June 20, 10am-4pm.

    All workshops offered at the Writing Ourselves Whole workshop space in downtown San Francisco. Register now or visit www.writingourselveswhole.org for more information!






    Write Whole: Survivors Write
    Eight Monday evenings, June 1 - July 27
    Open to all women survivors of sexual trauma

    Transforming our language is one of the ways we transform our lives.

    Many who are survivors of sexual trauma feel fragmented or disjointed and have come to believe we must always live our lives this way. Writing is one way to regain some control over our experiences and memories, and begin to create new sense out of them.

    Gather with other women survivors of sexual trauma in this workshop, and write in response to exercises chosen to elicit deep-heart writing, and deal with such subjects as: body image, family/community, sexuality, dreams, love, faith, and more. You'll be encouraged to trust the flow of your own writing, and receive immediate feedback about the power of your words!

    These workshops are open to all women who identify in as survivors of sexual trauma. Though we come together as survivors, we are never required to write any particular version of “our story,” or even write about trauma at all if we don’t choose to! In this space, you have the opportunity to write as you feel called to write.

    Although the setting is a supportive one, the workshop is different from a "support group," as the focus of the workshop itself is on each person's writing; we create beauty out of the sometimes extraordinarily difficult stuff of our lives.


    Declaring Our Erotic
    Eight Tuesday evenings, June 2 - July 28
    For Summer 09, this workshop is open to queer women survivors of sexual trauma

    Take back your sexuality! Come together with other queer-identified women survivors to create a space in which we struggle with and celebrate our complex sexualities, in an attempt to become less isolated around, and more comfortable talking about, our sexual desires. Each week, we write in response to exercises designed to tap into different aspects of our sexual selves: memory, fantasy, experience, relationship with the body, and more!

    You will get more comfortable exploring and talking about sexual desires, receive strong and focused feedback about your new writing, explore the varied and complex aspects of sexuality and desire in a fun and confidential environment, and, of course, try your hand at some explicit erotic writing!

    Previous participants have found the group to be transformative, feeling that the work they've done has opened up and changed not only their relationship with their erotic selves, but with many other aspects of their lives as well.


    Raw Silk - Women write their erotic
    an erotic writing retreat open to all women
    Saturday, June 20, 2009
    10:00am-4:00pm.
    Continental breakfast and light lunch provided.

    Treat yourself to a day of good food, powerful writing and great community! In this AWA-method day-long writing retreat, you’ll have the opportunity to get more comfortable exploring and talking about sexual desires, celebrate the varied and complex aspects of your sexual self, and, of course, dive into some explicit erotic writing! Surprise yourself with the power of your sensual/erotic voice. You'll end the day with a rich body of new creative writing and feedback from your peers about what's already strong in your work.

    For each of our all-day Saturday writing retreats, we gather in the morning for coffee and some home-baked breakfast, and then write through the rest of the morning. After a break for a light lunch, we keep on diving deep into our work through the afternoon! At the end of the day, we have some conversation about revising and editing our work, and we close by four.




    All workshops are open to folks of all writing abilities: whether you write regularly, are an infrequent journaler, or used to write and would like to again, these groups are for you!

    Our workshops held in San Francisco in an accessible space, a half-block from BART and on many MUNI lines. Spaces are still available, though limited, and pre-registration is required! Cost for full 8-week workshops is $250; fee for Saturday retreats is $100. Deposits are requested to reserve your space. To register or for more information, email jennifer@writingourselveswhole.org or visit www.writingourselveswhole.org!

    Writing Ourselves Whole's founder and facilitator, Jen Cross, is a freelance writer whose work has been published in close to thirty anthologies and periodicals, including Nobody Passes, Visible: A Femmethology, Best Sex Writing 2008, Best Women’s Erotica 2007, and many more. Jen has facilitated writing workshops since 2002. She received her MA in Transformative Language Arts from Goddard College, and is a certified facilitator of the Amherst Writers & Artists method (www.amherstwriters.com, as developed by Pat Schneider).

    Founded in 2003, Writing Ourselves Whole seeks to change the world through writing. To open our hearts to ourselves and each other, so that we might live in a community of deep expressiveness and self-love, where each individual reaches his and her most complete self. We exist in the service of transforming trauma and/or struggles around sexuality into art, and creating spaces in which individuals may come to recognize the artist/writer within.

    To express our own story changes the world. Writing is both memory and possibility at once, and in moving through and with that tension, we create change.

    Labels: , , , , , , , ,

  • Wednesday, April 22, 2009

    why join an erotic writing workshop?

    Tonight's the erotic reading circle at the Center for Sex and Culture, and I'm getting my promo materials together for the summer writing ourselves whole workshops, which will include the Monday night survivors writing workshop and a Tuesday night erotic writing workshop for survivors of sexual trauma. During a time when folks are struggling around money, are worried about the well-being of our planet and of our communities, I know it's easy to question why anyone would devote precious time and energy to writing about sex. Why would someone join erotic writing workshop?

    A couple years ago, I published the following wrangling with to that question in the Open Exchange magazine here in San Francisco:


    Why an erotic writing workshop? The base of all Writing Ourselves Whole workshops is the trans-formative writing process, the option of opening up oneself into the heart of one's experience. An erotic writing has opened, for me, an internal space for previously unexpressed desire, wish, need. This desire has not been confined to the erotic realm – I've found longings unrelated to sexuality rising to my surface, seeking expression and manifestation.

    We do not have to be silenced through our limited erotic language any more. One of the things I have learned through both my studies and my own writing practice is that what we know ourselves to be is shaped in large part by how and what we know to say about ourselves – that is, by the words we can put to our inner and outer experiences. The deeper and more complicated our language, the deeper and more complicated – and often, simultaneously, more clear – our sense of our own identity, desire and self.

    It can be scary to imagine writing explicitly about sex – with strangers, no less. Here's what you can expect: we write together, as we're inspired, in response to open-ended prompts; we read aloud after writing only if we want to, and, when we do decide to read aloud, our peers in writing respond to our writing as though it's fiction and will tell us what they liked about what we shared. These last two pieces are important – for the erotic writing groups as well as for the survivors writing workshops at Writing Ourselves Whole – and are the main reason that we use the Amherst Writers and Artists workshop model.

    Each of us as writers decides what part of what story we want to share or explore and/or create. We may begin with something rooted in the autobiographical, then weave into the fictional, and back again; no one can know what's "fact" – and what listeners will hold on to is the emotional truth of the writing. These are our storytellings, and we will get to hear what's already strong, already working, in our brand new works of art.

    You my feel a desire to write but feel that you are not a writer, that you cannot write, maybe because someone in school told you so. It is often the folks with this belief who surprise themselves most with what flows from their pen. You may feel timid around the descriptions of sex and sexuality in your writing, and want a chance to work on that in a safe environment. You may have individual erotic desires that you'd like to explore before acting on. You may simply enjoy writing about sexuality or desire, and want the opportunity to practice your craft. You may be in the mood for something new and different. For all these reasons – and more – folks have come to the Declaring Our Erotic writing workshop.

    (Originally appeared at http://www.openexchange.org/archives/OND07/cross.html)

    Labels: , , ,

    Thursday, March 5, 2009

    March retreat on 3/14 and Spring workshops!

    Don't forget: there's a Saturday Write Whole retreat on 3/14, and the spring workshops begin on 4/6 and 4/7! More information below -- visit www.writingourselveswhole.org for more information or to sign up!

    -----

    Spring 2009 AWA-model writing workshops
    with Jen Cross/Writing Ourselves Whole!


    ** Write Whole: Survivors Write - Saturday Intensive!
    An all-day writing retreat
    Saturday, March 14, 2009
    9:00am-4:00pm.
    (Check-in and registration/continental breakfast 8:30-9:00am)
    Light lunch also provided.
    ~ Treat yourself to a day of good writing, good food, and good community! For each of our all-day Saturday writing retreats, we gather in the morning for coffee and some home-baked breakfast, and then write through the rest of the morning. After a break for a light lunch, we keep on diving deep into our work through the afternoon! We create new art and new beauty out of the complicated realities of our lives. Open to all women who identify in as survivors of sexual trauma.


    **Write Whole: Survivors Write**
    Special 5-week workshop meets Monday evenings, beginning April 6.

    ~ Gather with other women survivors of sexual trauma in this workshop, and write in response to exercises chosen to elicit deep-heart writing, and deal with such subjects as: body image, family/community, sexuality, dreams, love, faith, and more. You'll be encouraged to trust the flow of your own writing, and receive immediate feedback about the power of your words! Open to all women who identify in as survivors of sexual trauma.



    **Declaring Our Erotic**
    Special 5-week workshop meets Tuesday evenings, beginning April 7.
    Open to folks of all sexualities and all genders!


    ~ Are you ready to explore some new edges in your writing? Are there longings you would like to find language for? Now's the time: you may very well surprise yourself with the depth and power of your writing!

    This is a deliberately-diverse erotic writing workshop open to folks of all sexualities and all genders. For anyone who's ever thought about writing erotic stories - now's the time to get some of those fantasies down on the page! In these workshops, you will get more comfortable exploring and talking about sexual desires, receive strong and focused feedback about your new writing, explore the varied and complex aspects of sexuality and desire in a fun and confidential environment, and, of course, try your hand at some explicit erotic writing! In addition, if you choose, you may share your manuscripts with peer writers for well-rounded response to your erotic work.


    All workshops held in San Francisco in an accessible space, a half-block from BART and on many MUNI lines. Spaces are still available, though limited, and pre-registration is required! Fee for 5 weeks is $175; fee for Saturday retreat is $100. To register or for more information, email jennifer@writingourselveswhole.org or visit
    www.writingourselveswhole.org!


    About your facilitator: Jen Cross is a freelance writer whose work has been published in many anthologies and periodicals. Jen has facilitated writing workshops since 2002. She received her MA in Transformative Language Arts from Goddard College, and is a certified facilitator of the Amherst Writers & Artists method (http://www.amherstwriters.com/).

    Labels: , , , , , ,

    Saturday, November 22, 2008

    Saturday Intensives on 12/13 and 12/20!

    Treat yourself to a day of good writing, good food, and good community!

    Declaring Our Erotic -- an all-day erotic writing retreat open to folks of all genders
    Saturday, December 13, 8:30am-4:00pm.
    (Check-in and registration/continental breakfast 8:30-9:00am)
    Light lunch also provided.

    Write Whole: Survivors Write -- an all-day writing retreat open to women survivors of sexual trauma
    Saturday, December 20, 8:30am-4:00pm.
    (Check-in and registration/continental breakfast 8:30-9:00am)
    Light lunch also provided.

    Location: Writing Ourselves Whole workshop space in downtown San Francisco.


    For each of our all-day Saturday writing retreats, we gather in the morning for coffee and some home-baked breakfast, and then write through the rest of the morning. After a break for a light lunch, we keep on diving deep into our work through the afternoon! At the end of the day, we have some conversation about revising and editing our work, and we close by four.

    As for all the other writing groups, we will be using the Amherst Writers and Artists workshop method. You'll leave with: a rich body of new creative writing; feedback from your peers about what's already strong in your new writing; and some thoughts about revising your new work.

    The fee for these retreats is $100. Please let me know if you'd like more information or would like to register!

    Join us!

    Labels: , , , ,

    Wednesday, July 9, 2008

    Reminder: Summer writing workshops begin next week!

    Eight-week writing workshops
    With Writing Ourselves Whole!


    Summer workshops begin July 14 and 15
    www.writingourselveswhole.org



    **Write Whole-Survivors Write**
    meets Monday evenings, beginning July 14.
    Open to women survivors of sexual trauma.
    Gather with other survivors to create new art and new beauty out of your experiences, and deepen your sense of wholeness. (note: both "woman" and "survivor" are intended to be self-defined.)


    **Declaring Our Erotic**
    meets Tuesday evenings, beginning July 15.
    Open to folks of all sexualities and all genders!
    DOE workshops provide a space to get more comfortable exploring and talking about sexuality and desire, and to become less inhibited in your own writing. Share your manuscripts with peer writers for well-rounded response to your erotic work, and create an exciting body of fresh and (often) surprising new writing in 8 weeks!

    No previous writing experience necessary -- Open to folks of
    all writing abilities!

    Workshops held in San Francisco in an accessible space, a half-block from BART and on many MUNI lines. Spaces are limited and pre-registration is required! Cost for 8 weeks is $250. To register, visit www.writingourselveswhole.org!

    About your facilitator: Jen Cross is a freelance writer
    whose work has been published in numerous anthologies, and
    is fresh off the very successful Body Heat tour with
    kathleen delaney and Vixen Noir/Veronica Combs! She's a
    queer incest survivor, and has facilitated writing workshops
    for the past 5 years. She received her MA in Transformative
    Language Arts from Goddard College, and is a certified
    facilitator of the Amherst Writers & Artists method
    (http://www.amherstwriters.com/).

    Labels: , , ,

    Sunday, April 27, 2008

    Erotic/sensuality writing workshops begin next week!

    EDIT: Note new workshop start dates!

    There are still spaces available in both of the Writing Ourselves Whole sensuality/erotic writing workshops that begin next Tuesday, 5/6, and Wednesday, 5/7 -- please spread the word!

    Register at http://www.writingourselveswhole.org/Contact.htm!

    Declaring Our Erotic begins Tuesday evening, May 6. Open to folks of all sexualities and all genders!

    Raw Silk: Women write desire begins Wednesday morning, May 7. Open to all women.

    Workshops meet in downtown San Francisco in an accessible, BART-friendly location. Write to jennifer (at) writingourselveswhole (dot) org, or visit www.writingourselveswhole.org, for more information about the workshops or your facilitator, Jen Cross.

    Here's what some folks have said about these workshops:

    Magic happens here, that's the thing. We explore the politics of desire in the most amazing ways. Jen's workshops are good nourishment for the soul and creativity, as well as really empowering and FUN!!! Go toward the fun..... -- Cayenne


    The chance to integrate erotica and language, out loud in community, every week, is such a human delight and relief--it can lead us to unexpected discoveries, both inside us and out there in the world. --LB



    Interested? Or know someone else who might be? Send me a note at jennifer@writingourselveswhole.org, and I can tell you whatever you'd like to know about how to get some more erotic writing into your week days.

    Labels: , , ,

    Thursday, February 28, 2008

    This March, join us for one of our weekend intensive writing days!

    Announcing weekend-day workshops this March - Reserve your space now!

    Want to get a feel for how the workshops run before committing to a full 8-week session? Not able to join to a full 8-week workshop session? Want the opportunity to go a little deeper into the writing that you've gotten started on your own, or during regular workshop meetings?

    Here's your chance!

    Join us for a day of good writing, good food and great company! The March dates are:

  • Saturday, March 22: Declaring Our Erotic: open to folks of all genders and orientations!

  • Saturday, March 29: Raw Silk-Women write desire: open to all women

  • Sunday, March 30: Write Whole-Survivors Write: for women survivors of sexual trauma

  • I'll provide breakfast and light snacks for the day. As for all the other writing groups, we will be using the Amherst Writers and Artists workshop method. You'll leave with: a rich body of new creative writing; feedback from your peers about what's already strong in your new writing; and some thoughts about revising your new work.

    Each retreat day runs 10:00am-4:00pm (Breakfast 9:30-10:00am). The cost will be $100; sliding scale may be available. All workshop meetings held in our convenient Flood Building office, right off the Powell Street BART stop. Contact me (jennifer (at) writingourselveswhole (dot) org) with questions or to reserve a space!

    Reminder: All identities (i.e., women, survivor) are to be self-defined!

    Labels: , , , , , , , , ,

    Thursday, December 20, 2007

    Celebrate the new year with new words! Winter 2008 Workshops Begin Soon -

    Transformative writing workshops:
    Winter 2008 sessions begin January 7, 8 and 9.

    Erotic writing workshops and workshop for survivors of sexual trauma begin soon! Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions about these special topic writing workshops: jennifer@writingourselveshwhole.org.

    ----------------------------------------

    ~ Transforming our language is one way we transform our lives. ~

    ~ Visit www.writingourselveswhole.org to register for these special topic writing workshops~

    Write Whole-Survivors Write meets Monday evenings beginning January 7.
    Open to women survivors of sexual trauma. Gather with other survivors to create new art and new beauty out of your experiences, and deepen your sense of wholeness.

    Declaring Our Erotic workshops meet Tuesday evenings and Wednesday mornings. DOE workshops provide a space to get more comfortable exploring and talking about sexuality and desire, and to become less inhibited in your own writing.

  • Mixed DOE: Tuesday evenings beginning January 8 - Open to folks of all sexualities and all genders!
  • Women's DOE, Wednesday mornings beginning January 9 - open to all women!

    ~note: both "woman" and "survivor" are intended to be self-defined.~

    Transform your relationship with your writing and with yourself. Open to folks of all writing abilities!

    A few spaces are still available in each workshop. Cost for 8-week workshops is $250. Workshops held in downtown San Francisco, near BART and MUNI. To register, or for more information, visit www.writingourselveswhole.org!

    About your facilitator: Jen Cross is a freelance writer and queer incest survivor whose work has been published in numerous anthologies. She's facilitated writing workshops for the past 5 years.
  • Labels: , , ,