An eight-week writing workshop offered by Free Minds this fall will provide a group of low-income adults a coveted opportunity to gain valuable writing skills by getting feedback and face time with Austinite Donna Johnson, author of “Holy Ghost Girl.”
Author Donna Johnson
The writing workshop, which began September 25, meets every Tuesday through November 13. Free Minds launched the workshops in 2011. To date, more than 40 community members have been served, through the help of volunteers and staff.
The workshop will be held at the Sierra Vista Learning Center, a Foundation Communities site, as part of the long-standing collaboration between Foundation Communities, a local non-profit offering affordable homes and support services, and Free Minds. Seventeen registered workshop participants including Foundation Communities residents and Free Minds graduates will work with Johnson to find their inner voice and communicate their life experiences through writing. The workshop promises to offer a supportive group environment, where adults can improve their comfort and skill as writers, and explore the genre of memoir.
Johnson’s book, released last spring, is a memoir detailing her childhood experiences in the Pentecostal tent meeting movement. She has received very favorable reviews and was recently featured on Oprah’s Memoirs We Love List.
Modeled on the best practices of Write Around Portland, a well-established community writing non-profit, Free Minds writing workshops prioritize the practice of free writing to unleash creativity and silence the inner critic. Open to all, these workshops are another way that Free Minds is expanding opportunities for adults to build intellectual community.
Workshop participant Jennifer Hidrigo said, “When I take these classes, the creative juices start flowing!”
