Mary SojournerWriter and writing mentor Mary Sojourner is returning to the Southwest Festival of the Written Word (SWFWW), in Silver City NM, Friday-Sunday, September 29, 30, October 1. Her "Write Now: you only think you have forever" hands-on writing session at the Festival takes place Sunday, October 1, 10:00-11:00am, at the "A" Space Gallery, 110 W 7th St. The event--as are all Festival events and sessions—is open to the public free of charge. No reservations or registration are required to attend.
"I just came through a near-death experience from an electrolyte imbalance. One minute I was moving through my life; the next I lay on the floor next to my desk and looked up at five Sheriff's Department EMTs. In the week of hospitalization that followed, I fought back from a fog of terror. Writing was my weapon against despair. I'm back now." writes Sojourner. "In this Festival session we will write. You will work with what longs to emerge from your life, your emotions. Please bring writing materials and your faithfulness to your craft."
Sojourner believes in both the limitations and possibilities of healing. Writing is the most powerful tool she has found for doing what is necessary to mend what has been broken. For more information, visit www.breakthroughwriting.net.
According to Mary Hotvedt, Festival co-chair, " Mary Sojourner has been associated with SWFWW for a number of years. She has previously been a Festival session presenter as well as a writing workshop host during the Festival Prologue years when a full-blown Festival doesn't occur. Her offerings are always popular, well-attended, and enthusiastically reviewed by the participants."
Mary Sojourner is the author of three novels, Sisters of the Dream (1989); Going Through Ghosts and 29, 2014; two short story collections Delicate, 2001 and The Talker, 2017; essay collection, Bonelight: ruin and grace in the New Southwest; memoir, Solace: rituals of loss and desire and memoir/self-help guide, She Bets Her Life. She reviews books for KNAU, a local NPR affiliate, and has written countless essays, columns and op eds for High Country News, Yoga Journal, Writers on the Range and dozens of other publications. She teaches writing, in private circles, one-on-one, at colleges and universities, writing conferences and book festivals and on-line for Matador U.
The 2017 Southwest Festival of the Written Word brings to Silver City more than thirty award-winning authors, poets, playwrights, and publishers who live and work throughout the Southwest. Over the three-day weekend readers, writers, and presenters get to mix, mingle, converse and listen to each other in small, informal sessions focused on the written word in its many forms.
"The theme for this third biennial Festival is 'Word Travels Fast'," said Jeannie Miller, co-chair for the Festival. "Each presenter and attendee will be challenged to find what that means to him or her personally. It's intriguing to consider the possibilities. We invite the public to join us for a great weekend."
The full Festival schedule and list of presenters is available at www.swwordfiesta.org