Ruth Schwartz: Writing Dangerously: Breaking Taboos, Taking Risks, Wrestling with Paradox

Saturday Nov. 2nd, 10 am to 4 pm
$95 members/$110 others     Berkeley
Student Testimonials

“I’m so glad I took the ‘Writing Dangerously’ class. I have been writing nonstop on formerly taboo topics ever since. Talking about it with others gave me the permission to tell my own stories.”—Recent Student

Are there stories you haven’t yet dared to tell, material you haven’t known how to tackle? Instructor Ruth Schwartz, a practicing healer as well as a memoirist, poet and self-help book author, is skilled at creating environments that offer support and permission for such stories.

“My aim in this class is to help people witness and inspire each other, so that each of us can write something stronger and truer than ever before,” she says. “Whether your material encompasses sex, substance use, illness, abuse, loss, or simply the complexity of human relationships and emotions, we will help you push further.”

The workshop includes unique writing exercises that help you approach challenging material with compassion, and gently propel you into taking risks, breaking taboos and embracing contradictions.

“We’ll encourage one another to move beyond habit and convention,” says  Ruth. “We’ll also delve into our notions of beauty, and how we might find it in unlikely places. Together we’ll work to create an atmosphere in which everyone can feel free to try – or say – anything. We won’t critique your brand-new work, but will listen supportively and attentively.”

Whether you’re a memoir writer with some challenging emotional terrain to cover, or a poet unsure of how to get the power of your experience onto the page, this class will help you move forward.

Note: CEUs are available for licensed MFTs or LCSWs.

Ruth L. Schwartz is the author of Soul on Earth: A Guide to Living and Loving Your Human Life, along with five award-winning books of poems and a memoir, Death in Reverse. Her poems and essays have appeared frequently in The Sun (sometimes under a pseudonym, at the editors’ request), and she has received numerous literary fellowships and prizes, including grants from the N.E.A. the Ohio Arts Council, and the Astrea Foundation. Ruth currently teaches in the  low-residency M.F.A. program at Ashland University, and has a private hypnotherapy and shamanic practice:  www.evolutionarysupport.com