About

But it’s also about much more than writing. I believe that the most good comes out of making education and the arts available to the most people. Individuals and communities benefit and society overall benefits. People develop confidence through writing and this has a ripple effect that goes beyond writing.

What if we believed that:

• Writing is good for you

• Everyone can do it

• Writing changes lives

I’m an affiliate of Amherst Writers & Artists (AWA). AWA is a non-profit, international arts organization dedicated to the principle that everyone can use words to create art. Pat Schneider, author of Writing Alone and With Others & How The Light Gets In (Oxford University Press), founded AWA over thirty years ago in Amherst, Massachusetts, USA.

The Amherst Writers & Artists’ philosophy is a simple one: every person is a writer, and every writer deserves a safe environment in which to experiment, learn, and develop craft. The AWA method, which is fully described in founder Pat Schneider’s book Writing Alone and With Others, provides just such an environment. All AWA workshops are based on the principle that the teaching of craft can be practiced without damage to the creative spirit.

Here is Pat’s philosophy, captured in what she called her “Five Essential Affirmations”:

1. Everyone has a strong, unique voice.

2. Everyone is born with creative genius.

3. Writing as an art form belongs to all people, regardless of economic class or educational level.

4. The teaching of craft can be done without damage to a writer’s original voice or artistic self-esteem.

5. A writer is someone who writes.

I always get a thrill when people find a way to express their stories, their lives in their own unique voices.