Writing creates community. In a recent anthology of writings by senior citizens, editor Erica Mailman mentions how the high point of creating the collection was meeting its contributors and watching them exchange telephone numbers. Writers linked with fellow writers and their community circles widened. Recently, in my creative writing class, students completed the in-class prompt "It was a dark and foggy night when," then volunteered to read their pieces aloud. Afterward, one student commented that all the stories could have been parts of one story, that the they seemed to follow one another naturally. Others agreed. Writing had linked the student writers, joining them in a new communal story. Through writing, I myself connected with a new community last summer. As a resident of a new town, I decided to read my poetry aloud at an open mic event. After my reading, a woman leaned over from the adjoining table and handed me a card. "Red Fox Poets" was printed on the front; on the back she had written, "We meet every Wednesday. Join us!" I had found my tribe: a group of like-minded folks with whom to share poems and critiques. Writing links authors to readers and readers to authors. When reading a story, we enter into the lives of the characters and the lives of the characters enter us. We read a poet's words, and our own memories and stories are awakened. We become part of a wider dialogue. Such is the aim of our anthology to create a community of our own. Wendy Patrice Williams Oakland, California Spring 2004 |
Wendy Patrice Williams |
Preface |
The Peralta Press |
