Book Review: How the Light Gets In: Writing as a Spiritual Practice

While I believe we should all be able to worship whatever and however we like, I don’t exercise that right in any traditional sense. When I left my parents’ home and went off to college, I stopped going to church, and haven’t really looked back. I don’t feel a void where once was the incessant standing-up-and-sitting-down that is synonymous with an Episcopalian service; I don’t miss the hour spent in church once a week listening to a robed man proselytizing before his congregation. When asked whether or not I consider myself to be a spiritual person, my reflexive answer is usually “I haven’t really made time for spirituality.” In some silly way, I think of cultivating my own spirituality as an item on some distant to-do list. But Pat Schneider’s new book, How the Light Gets In: Writing as a Spiritual Practice, suggests I may have been cultivating my spiritual side without even realizing it – by writing.

For Schneider, writing is an inherently spiritual act; a kind of prayer:

“Both prayer and writing invite us to explore the full range of human awareness, out to the edges of what we have experienced and beyond, out to the edges of what we can intuit, and beyond. Both invite us to imagine, to be brave in what we imagine, and to keep the doors of our imaginings open.”

As a reluctantly spiritual person, this comparison made by Schneider initially made me uncomfortable. I’m a bit of a cynic when it comes to prayer, to thinking about a higher power, or to worshipping some larger, unknown force. Perhaps this is because on my own bumpy path through our often crazy world, I have come to take comfort in the fact that at the end of the day, I must rely on myself. When things feel impossible I tend to turn inward to the reservoir of strength I’ve come to realize I possess, rather than reaching outward to a mystical presence. But this, in some sense, is Schneider’s point. (more…)

Sponsor a Young Writer in NYWC’s Summer Writing Program

Each year 40 young people participate in NY Writers Coalition’s six-week series of free outdoor creative writing workshops and in an end-of-summer reading, the Fort Greene Park Summer Literary Festival. Lit Fest presents well-known, established writers reading alongside the young writers from the workshops.

NYWC’s summer writing program for youth honors the power of the written word to build inclusiveness and give voice to the thoughts and experiences of everyone, not just the privileged and powerful. Past Lit Fest readers include Amiri Baraka, Jennifer Egan, Jhumpa Lahiri, Rick Moody, Gloria Naylor, Sapphire, Sonia Sanchez, Colson Whitehead and many others.

Due to funding cuts by the National Endowment for the Arts, NYWC must raise $6,000 before the summer.  It costs NYWC $25 per young writer (per week) to provide the Fort Greene Park Summer Youth Workshops free of charge to the public, totaling $150 per writer for the summer.

Please consider making a contribution here so that we may continue to provide this program to the dedicated and talented writers of tomorrow — and remember to join us for this year’s Fort Greene Park Summer Literary Festival on August 24!

NYWC Web Premiere: Voices of NY Writers Coalition

NY Writers Coalition has helped unheard voices be heard for over ten years now by way of our city-wide workshops, reading events, and NY Writers Coalition Press publications. This year, we’re happy to dip our toes into another golden pond with our first film, Voices of NY Writers Coalition.

Here, a few of NYWC’s dedicated workshop leaders and participants discuss the work, share their writing, and remind us of the importance of bringing voice to the voiceless in New York City.

Special thanks to Louise Crawford, Erick Fix, and Marian Fontana for their hard work in making this video happen, as well as to all the writers and workshop leaders who appeared in the film. Enjoy!

Tonight, tonight!

We made it! Let’s all give each other a big round of applause for making it to the most important day of the week, Friday. So, how will you be spending your reward for making it through the week in one piece? Worry not, it just so happens NYWC is throwing its Spring Fling! Here’s five reasons why the Spring Fling is the place you want to be.

Let’s be honest, it’s Friday who doesn’t need to unwind a little? Come kick back with the NYWC team and it’s supporters and have a drink.  Sponsored by Iceberg Vodka and LiBella Pinot Grigio, the specialty cocktails will help you start your weekend right.
Somewhere in between strong cocktails and good company, NYWC will give guests a glance at their new promotional video. Featuring some of our amazing workshop leaders and participants, it’s an inside look you don’t want to miss. For an exclusive first viewing be sure to join us tonight. (more…)

Participate in National Volunteer Week, Join NYWC’s Volunteer Corps!

National Volunteer Week is coming to a close, but we couldn’t let it pass without giving a shout-out to NYWC’s  Volunteer Corps program. Our creative writing workshops are the crux of the work we do here and our over forty volunteers have allowed us to conduct over 1,000 workshops in 2012 alone. The Volunteer Corps, our cohort of volunteers who do not lead workshops, allow us to expand our reach and strengthen our programs in 2013 and beyond.

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