Power of Words 2012

The 2012 conference was held at Pendle Hill Retreat Center near Philadelphia. Although Hurricane Sandy, which made landfall right after the conference, affected conference participation on the last day of the event, the conference was warm, welcoming, and rated very highly by participants for how inspiration, informative and helpful it was. Jimmy Santiago Baca was keynoter, a very lively and varied coffee house of wonder took place (including everything from long-form comedy improv to storytelling to singing and poetry), and all the performances and workshops were lively. Here's more details.

PRE-CONFERENCE WORKSHOPS:

Scott Youmans – Ways Toward Right Livelihood

Doug Lipman –The Joy Cycle

Ruth Gendler – Writing from the Heart/The Heart of Writing

Jimmy Santiago Baca – Loosening the Debris: Bringing Real Life to your Writing

WORKSHOPS:

"Anyway You Need Her" : Blues Performance as Empowerment and Transformation – Maria Johnson

The Art of Story Listening and Creating Personal Myth – Raymond Gray

Civil Writes – Wendy Thompson

Compassionate Communication – Jane Connor

The Empowering Struggle: Sisters of Survival Tell Their Stories of Incarceration & Liberation – Iris Wilkinson and Sharon Sullivan

Give Your Wisdom Wings – Doug Lipman

Journaling Through: Awakening the Body's Wisdom – Angela Caughlin

The Joyous Body – Lisa Avnet

The Language of Coaching -Tamara Smiley Hamilton

The Language and Business of Stories — Annette Ramos

Listening for Story: A Decade of Publishing Narrative Medicine — Tom Janisse  

Look for a Sign – Marion Goldstein

Personal Narrative and the Art of Illness: Writing to Create Meaning – Meghan MacNamara

Queering Curriculum: Teaching Theater, Teaching Selves – Jimmy Rose

TLA & People's History – Ezra Berkley Nepon

Using Music in Oral Performance – Rachel Nelson: Storyteller

Wreckage, Wonder and Ways Through the Impossible: The Transformative Power of Fiction – Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg

The Write Vitamins – Jan Stanley and Robert "Reb" Rebele

Writing Beyond the Narrative: Toward the Lyric Self – Joy Jacobson

Writing Through Grief – Jessica Handler and Kathryn Rhett

What Will Your Story Be? The Transformative Power of Expressive Writing – Denise VanBriggle