Amherst Writers and Artists

Amherst Writers and Artists is a resource for those looking for a method of leading writing workshops. They provide training all over the country.  http://www.amherstwriters.com/

From their website:
*****

The Amherst Writers & Artists' philosophy is a simple one: every person is a writer, and every writer deserves a safe environment in which to experiment, learn, and develop craft. The AWA method, which is fully described in founder Pat Schneider's book Writing Alone and With Others (Oxford University Press, 2003, and available at www.patschneider.com), provides just such an environment.

Peter Elbow, author of Writing Without Teachers, brought the writing process movement into classrooms across the U.S. In his the introduction to Writing Alone and With Others, he called Pat Schneider “the best teacher of writing I know.” The practices outlined in the book have proven effective in graduate school classrooms and in work with the homeless, in children’s schoolrooms, with nursing students, in bereavement groups and in living rooms among friends.

Unique to the AWA method, at the time of the publication of the book, are these two revolutionary practices:
-Everything in the writing workshop is treated as fiction, to minimize the personal vulnerability of the writer, and
-The teacher or leader writes with the students or participants, and reads aloud along with the other writers.

These practices, along with keeping all writing confidential, responding to just-written work with encouragement rather than negative critique, create an environment that is non-hierarchical, honest, and safe. Accomplished and beginning writers learn from one another in a generous atmosphere of both critical craft and personal respect for the value of every voice.

*****


Elizabeth Perlmans "Recommended Reading" list.

Storycatcher by Christina Baldwin
Women Writing for (a) Change by Mary Pierce Brosmer
Writing As A Way of Healing by Louise DeSalvo
Writing Down The Bones by Natalie Goldberg
Bird By Bird by Anne Lamontt
Story by Robert McKee
The Heroine’s Journey by Maureen Murdock
Write from the Heart by Leslea Newman
The Hero Within: Six Archetypes We By, by Carol S. Pearson
Opening Up: The Healing Power of Expressing Emotions by Dr. James W. Pennebaker
Writing to Change the World by Mary Piper
If You Want to Write by Brenda Ueland
The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure for Storytellers & Screenwriters by Christopher Vogler

Elizabeth Perlman is a writer, designer, and storyteller, committed to the creative process as a catalyst for positive change. As group leader in the AWA (Amherst Writers & Artists) writing method, she has recently launched The Intuitive Writing Project, a Bay Area non-profit that facilitates creative writing workshops to empower teenage girls. You can learn more at www.intuitivewritingproject.org