FREE
Free Write with Lisa Freedman Praise Poems for the Planet
Global temperatures are rising. Sea levels are rising. Rates of glacier melt and coral reef acidification are rising. This workshop offers a safe space where we can hold these realities and raise our voices to express our commitment and devotion to world as lover, world as self.* We will do two rounds of “breathe/read/write” together. This means that Lisa will guide us into a few minutes of silent meditation so we can rest our attention on the breath and feel into the connections between our bodies and the earth. Then she will present a short poem to serve as a prompt for free-writing. And we will share what comes through as time permits.
*World as Love, World as Self: COURAGE FOR GLOBAL JUSTICE AND PLANETARY RENEWAL is the title of Joanna Macy's 2003 book.
Lisa Freedman is a writer, activist, and New School Writing Program faculty member. She founded Breathe/Read/Write as a contemplative response to the chaos of the U.S. elections in 2016. BRW combines meditation and freewriting so participants clear the static and astound themselves with the flow and clarity that comes when they set their pens on the page. As a practitioner of Shambhala Buddhism, Lisa knows how inspiring it can be to share the open space of silence. And she has a knack for choosing free-write prompts that connect writers to what they need to say. Lisa leads BRW circles for The NY Zendo, the International Women’s Writing Guild, The Poetry Barn, and the New School’s Social Justice Hub, among others. Her work with BRW earned a 2021 NYFA Community Artists Corp Grant.
Lisa holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the New School. Her creative work can be found in these anthologies: Resist Much, Obey Little: Inaugural Poems to the Resistance; Literature from the First 20 Years of Art & Understanding; and Grabbing the Apple: An Anthology of New York Women Poets. Her poetry and prose also appear in Satya Magazine, POZ, Poetry Ration, and others. For more info, see the Breathe/Read/Write Eventbrite page and Lisa’s Writing Coach website.
Lisa’s work with BRW earned a 2021 NYFA Community Artists Corp Grant.” If you live in NYC, sign up for the free Breathe/Read/Write beach retreat on Saturday, Aug. 28, to help artists and writers re-emerge from Covid with strength and vision: BRW Beach Retreat