WRITING ABOUT OUR LIVES

September, 1998

I am delighted to introduce the women writers I've had the pleasure and privilege of listening to over the past months. Some are beginning writers. Others have been working at their craft for many years. All have shared their courage, honesty, wisdom and humor. Their words have touched me deeply and I think they will do the same for you. Enjoy.

Ellen Bass
Santa Cruz, CA 1997

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Table of Contents

For A Strong Sister

Debra Fay Holton, a fugitive from secretarial school, has seen her poems and short fiction appear in The Pinehurst Journal, Words of Wisdom, La Gazette and Glyphs, among others. In 1995, her story, "At the Santa Clara County Fair" won Images Magazine's First Prize for Prose, bestowed upon her by her alma mater, Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado. She recently completed a novel.

Pesach

Ellen Bass has the best job in Santa Cruz--teaching Writing About Our Lives Workshops in which she gets to hear and support the extraordinary work of so many women writers. She is co-author of The Courage to Heal and Free Your Mind and co-editor of I Never Told Anyone and No More Masks! She has also published several volumes of poetry.

For Allen Ginzberg

SeSe Geddes is a poet, journal writer and bellydancer here in Santa Cruz where she lives with her husband Troy and three black cats.

Condoms

Cassandra Brown grew up in the desert of Nevada at the base of the Sierras. She has lived in Oregon, Dominican Republic, North Carolina and now California. Her jobs have included development worker, social worker, farm worker, baker and gardener. She has fallen in and out of love of every place and job she's had. She is concerned both about our society's treatment of women and nature. She is working on a novel about abortion, and birth control.

Switch
Imago
Blessing

Sandra Dasmann was born and raised on the coast of Northern California. She has published poems in Plexus, Zero magazine, 89 Cents and Raise the Stakes. She lives in Santa Cruz.

Sarah
Old Ladies

Barbara Jetter's inspiration began with a gift of a diary on her tenth birthday. Through a life's worth of gentle steps and giant leaps, she has been on a journey discovering her secret self, who is a writer.

Red Dress

Althea Heard came to Santa Cruz, bemused and disoriented from the trip from Laguna Beach, Ca, in 1977 to attend the wedding of a friend. Her heart never left. In order to reconnect with it, she moved here permanently (maybe) in 1978.

Gallery By Night
The Spirit Is In The Mask

Lee Taiz is a Santa Cruz artist/illustrator. She is affiliated with Galeria Tonantzin in San Juan Bautista and Stiles and Strong Gallery-by-the-Sea in Capitola.

Two and a Half Years

Cheri Hubert. No bio available.

What's Old
Memorial Service
July
Mockingbird on Elm Street

Jan Harwood is a gardener, peace-activist and writer who devoutly believes that when she moved to Santa Cruz she died and went to heaven.

What My Mother Taught Me

Pam Mitchell is a writer who lives in San Francisco.

The "Ann Is A Flunker" Club

Beila Krow is a newcomer and lover of Santa Cruz. With the support of Ellen and the Wednesday afternoon class, Beila is returning to her childhood story-writing roots after being sidetracked by the temptations of the personal growth movement.

Mother Mountain

Jeanmarie Ann Therese Tarmann Derry is a local rollerblader, artist, administrator, mother, and friend. She has published in Seventeen magazine, written a "Survivor's Guide to Divorce," and loves to play with words. She has aligned with the universe 100%.

Smiling, She Fell Asleep

Colleen Brokaw. No bio available

Morning Glory

Susanne Espinoza came to Ellen's class to get encouragement to write about her life and stimulate her creativity.

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