Reflect on YOUR pandemic story
Deborah Siegel-Acevedo created the Bold Voice Collaborative’s “Voice the Pandemic” workshop for women because history needs women's stories.
“There are very few records of everyday life during the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic,” Deborah tells me. “We have a chance to write our own history, and I want the reality of women's lives — from all walks of life — to be part of that record.”
If you’re interested, but worried about covering the payment — fear not! “We comp essential workers every time we run the course,” Deborah explains. “For anyone who wants to take it but can't afford it, we offer pay-what-you can."
Deborah Siegel-Acevedo, founder, Bold Voices Collaborative
Lisa Ventura, an Afro-Latina poet and creative nonfiction writer from Washington Heights in NYC took the “Voice the Pandemic” workshop in December 2020, which was offered in partnership with the Economic Hardship Reporting Project (EHRP). With mentoring from Deborah, and in partnership with EHRP, Lisa published a piece in Slate’s Coronavirus Diaries titled: When My Father Called Me About His Unemployment. "So many readers mentioned they could relate," said Lisa. “It was a challenging but also cathartic experience. Many times, I doubted my potential and my writing abilities. But, with each draft, thanks to Deborah and Alissa (EHRP) the piece became stronger which in turn helped me believe in my capabilities as a writer.”
Author Carrie Goldman was inspired by the prompt to “write about a moment of realization you've had during the pandemic.” The prompt sparked her article, It's OK to Watch 'Schitt's Creek' With Your Kids, which was published in the New York Times, and has been shared 80,000 times and counting.
Said Carrie, "[The workshop] was a rare chance to practice mindfulness through writing — all while feeling the supportive energy of a group of talented and motivated people.”
Here are some additional testimonials from past workshop participants:
For Juliet Bond, LCSW, author and director of development at the Piven Theatre Workshop, the workshop was "an opportunity to really stop and absorb all we are going through right now. For today and for the future, writing about the pandemic will be invaluable, impactful, and healing."
"It left me feeling very contemplative and centered," said Debi Lewis, a memoirist and essayist and owner of the web design company Jebraweb.
Rina Campbell, a diversity, equity & inclusion specialist at Campbell Consulting, said the workshop was "a much-needed oasis from the regular program that is insane!"
“In a moment of extreme isolation and disconnection, we humans need community, connection, and ways to express what feels unexpressable,” the Bold Voices Collaborative website asserts.
I couldn’t agree more. Learn more about the workshop and the collaborative’s other offerings.
