Writing group Monday night was a full house of writing and conversation! Trina shared with us highlights of her class at Gemini by Andre Dubus, Pulitzer Prize author of House of Sand and Fog (novel and movie), Townie, his memoir, and other fiction.
In writing groups, we tell and listen to stories. We start with seven-minute timed stories and reflections, then read pieces worked on for critique and feedback. The connection among storytellers is always powerful--especially among women who write together for years.
Tonight is the second night of a class I'm taking at the Sol Center: Ancient Wisdom taught by Marga Speicher. Her first lecture underscored the power of storytelling through interpretation of the ancient story of Shahrazad of The Thousand and One Nights.
The story is about a king who--spurned by love--decided never to love again. So he decides to have a different consort every night, not to get attached, and then to kill her the next morning! While the kingdom's population of young women is fast shrinking, Shahrazad volunteers to be his consort--but she has a plan.
Every night, for 1001 nights, she tells a different story. He is so engrossed in her stories that he decides not to kill her--and doesn't even notice that she gives birth to three children during these 1001 days and nights.
One takeaway from this ancient story is that stories have power to heal. Shahrazad taps into the king's curiosity and tells stories that access something deep inside him. He begins to change--too late for all the murdered consorts--and he falls in love with Shahrazad.
The stories we tell each other and ourselves are pathways into the inner world and have a real impact on human life, as does all art.
No comments:
Post a Comment