Where the Words Go: Writing Through Grief After the Death of a Loved One

Grief leaves us with so many words left unsaid and thoughts to process. For many people, writing can be a helpful avenue for channeling these thoughts and feelings. However, not many know where to begin when it comes to the idea of writing for grief. In this workshop, we feature three guest speakers (Tom Flanagan of Blue Skies Rhode Island, Luna Jaffe of Look Mom, I can Fly, and Tanya Lord of Peer Support Community Partners) who share their experiences with writing throughout their grief experiences, from poetry to a published book. Watch this workshop to learn more about how anyone, regardless of background and experience, can utilize the process of writing in their grief journeys to find some comfort. 

Additional Resources:

• Panelist, Luna Jaffe’s Handout with poems and writing tips

• Panelist, Tom Flanagan’s Letter and Poem

• Panelist, Tanya Lord’s Poems

• Tom Flanagan’s Blue Skies Rhode Island website; if you want to share your writing anonymously on Tom’s Unspent Love Letters portion of the website, email him at BlueSkiesRIGrief@gmail.com

• Luna Jaffe's Look Mom, I Can Fly website and book; Luna's personal website

• Visions & Voices (PSCP-SADOD's online memorial for submitting expressions of grief)

• Julia Cameron on the importance of a daily creative ritual

• Elizabeth Gilbert's (author of Eat, Pray, Love) "Your Elusive Creative Genius" TED Talk

• Pioneer Valley Writers' Manuscript Program (can help with manuscript development)

• University of Arizona tips for poetry

• What's Your Grief Journaling Course

• Megan Devine's Refuge in Grief

• Ann Randolph's Unmute Yourself Course

• Nature sounds to help create a soothing environment for writing

• Ideas for how to start writing when you are feeling stuck

  • Brain dump

  • Subtractive poem

  • Writing prompts

  • Sentence stems

  • Finding shared community of writers (unmute class)

  • Starting with a title

  • Identifying fixations

  • Channeling a muse