The Shape of the Wind Workshop with Jeanne Bryner (June 3)

This community writing workshop is an interdisciplinary course that focuses on themes of survival, how we can free our voices through various channels of creativity and how finding voice for our feelings enriches our lives and all who surround us. The Shape of the Wind will explore journal writing, photography, drawing and signs found around us. The workshop will explore how these wells and mirrors pertain to our lives, silences within ourselves and others, perceived origins of illness, contracts in our lives and the whirlwind of illness. Photography will be utilized in this class. Images can be taken using a cellphone or disposable camera. You need not be an expert photographer, just a thoughtful one. The goal is to offer an opportunity to reflect on the natural world, your specific reactions to your illness or your family’s and process several pieces of the puzzle. We will also consider how others have responded or are responding to your illness and how these reactions affect you. I welcome any drawings, sketches or songs to release trapped feelings. 

Meeting times: Wednesdays June 3rd-July 15th from 11:00am- 12:30 pm

Location: McKinley Birthplace Home, 40 S Main St, Niles, OH (note: this workshop will meet at the McKinley Birthplace Home, not the McKinley Memorial Library). The two are nearby but are separate locations. This location has an elevator to the second floor and is ADA accessible.  

This workshop is intended for individuals experiencing illness and the families of those experiencing illness. To register, please click here. Please note, seating is limited to 20 participants.

Session leader, Jeanne Bryner, was born in Appalachia and grew up in Newton Falls, Ohio. A practicing registered nurse, she is a graduate of Trumbull Memorial’s School of Nursing and Kent State University’s Honors College. She has received writing fellowships from Bucknell University, the Ohio Arts Council (1997, 2007), and Vermont Studio Center. Her poetry has been adapted for the stage and performed in Ohio, West Virginia, New York, Kentucky, and Edinburgh, Scotland.

Many thanks to the McKinley Memorial Library and Birthplace Home for providing a venue.