[POSTPONED] Writing Through: A Creative Workshop Series for Transformational Collective Healing

Welcome to “Writing Through” a transformative creative writing space dedicated for Femmes/gender expansive People of Colour active in the environmental, climate, and ocean sectors. 

In this five-part writing and reflection series, we invite participants to embark on a journey of reflection, healing, and empowerment across both individual and systemic scales. Through the lens of interconnectedness, community, and the restoration of People and Place, "Writing Through" seeks to cultivate a space where the voices of the racialized global majority are honoured, valued, connected, and empowered, knowing this is where sustainable solutions are rooted from. No writing experience necessary. 

We recognize and start from an understanding that racialized folks historically and presently disproportionately face distinct forms of  exclusion within and from environmental spaces. 

Together, we will explore how racism, colonialism, ableism and inequality are uniquely experienced by racialized folks in environmental and climate action, and how these systemic forms of exclusion perpetuates environmental and climate injustice. Moving through this recognition, we will also create a container of belonging towards individual and collective liberatory healing via guided creative writing, journaling, reflection, crafting, and optional sharing. 

About the Facilitators:

This series is co-facilitated by Inda Intiar (she/her) and Aneri Garg (she/her). 

Inda is a writer, storyteller and facilitator with a passion for equitable and just futures. She is the founder of Akar Communications. She is currently living in the Siknikt district of Mi’kma’ki, in which the colonially known city of Moncton, NB is located. Inda is a first-generation Indonesian immigrant in so-called Canada who grew up across multiple countries in the Global South. Her work focuses on storytelling that builds community, and explores possibilities for better futures. With ancestry primarily from the islands of Java and Sulawesi, writing is Inda’s way of navigating identities, cultures, grief and joy from and in migration. Her approach reflects her continued learning and actioning of decolonization within herself and externally. She brings insights from studying journalism and international relations, as well as working in digital media, non-profit communications and grassroots community projects promoting equity for immigrant, racialized and underprivileged youth in New Brunswick and Indonesia. 

Aneri is an artist, marine biologist, science communicator, and equity & justice facilitator living in Huu-ay-aht First Nations territory on the West coast of Vancouver Island, colonially known as Bamfield, BC. She is a queer, cis, neurodivergent, second generation south-asian woman from a dominant caste. Her world-building work is varied and honours the intersectionality of power and privilege -centering her core values of curiosity, truth & equity. She is passionate about creating containers of belonging for folks on the fringes, and using writing and facilitation as avenues of active community healing. She loves to share and hear stories, teach yoga from a decolonial lens, spend time in and on the water with my puppy, bake sweet treats, and collaborate with her comrades for a dreamy future. For more info please see visit aneri-garg.com. 

More information on the series: 

This 5 part series (with an optional free 6th session) follows a pay-what-you-choose model within the range of $125-400 ($25-80 per session) for the workshop series.

This writing, reflection, and optional sharing series will follow a Spiral-In Spiral-Out model, starting with Session 1 (Systemic Harm), Session 2 (Individual Harm), Session 3 (The Messy Middle), Session 4 (Individual Healing), Session 5 (Systemic Healing). 

Each 1.5 hour session (including break time) runs Wednesday evenings from September 4th - Oct 2nd (with an optional 6th session on Oct 9th). Each session starts at 4:30pm PT (UTC -7)  / 8:30pm AT (UTC -3). 

This series is for racialized folks active in the environmental, climate, and ocean sectors. 

For the sake of curating a quality online experience, we will be limiting registration to 20 people for this series. 

For guidance on self-assessing payment options, please visit see the green bottle image in the checkout and/or read more on economic justice sliding scale models here. 

In an effort to align action to value towards decolonization and climate justice, 5% of all ticket sales for this series will be donated to Indigenous Climate Action to support Indigenous-led knowledge keepers, water protectors and land defenders. 

Accessibility

Most sessions will be on zoom, you do not need a paid zoom account to participate. Closed captioning will be provided during live zoom sessions, however sessions will not be recorded to protect the privacy of participants. Pre-session communication will be over email

If a financial barrier significantly impacts your ability to participate in this series, please let us know in the registration form and we will work something out. 

For all pre-workshop support and specific accessibility needs, please reach out to Inda at inda@akarco.ca or Aneri at aneri.garg@gmail.com. 

FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)

1. I”m not a “writer," is this workshop right for me?

Yes! We will be using various forms of guided creative writing, poetry, journaling, reflections, oral storytelling, doodling and participant-choice activities. We firmly believe in the process of creation as a healing process, and are not interested in perpetuating the white supremacy characteristic of perfectionism that can get in the way of just trying something new!

2. Can I register for just one session and what is the time commitment?

In the aim of creating community and continuity throughout sessions, we will only be accepting registrations for the entire series. Stay tuned for future offerings that may involve drop-in writing sessions! Each of the 5 weekly sessions lasts 1.5 hours, and there is no mandatory time commitment or “homework” outside these times.

3. Why is this series only for racialized people who are femme and gender non-conforming?

Femmes and gender expansive People of colour historically and contemporarily face distinct exclusion and marginalization within environmental spaces, stemming from a complex interplay of systemic injustices and intersectional power dynamics. This workshop series will explore themes of systemic racism, colonialism, ableism and inequality that are uniquely experienced by the intended audience of this workshop. 

We also acknowledge that neither of the facilitators are Indigenous or Black, and that Indigenous and Black folks uniquely and disproportionately face specific types of discrimination, violence and exclusion in environmental/climate spaces. This series is inclusive for all racialized folks with the goal of affirming solidarity across communities of colour; we will leave it to participants to self-assess if this is a space that may be supportive for your needs at this time.

4. Is this therapy?

This offering is an avenue for therapeutic reflection, community, and healing, but it is not therapy. Neither of the facilitators are mental health professionals, and we recommend registrants reflect on what they are seeking out of this writing series prior to joining. If you require support with something that falls beyond the scope of our expertise, please seek out professional support. Please check out the Healing in Colour database. 

5. Is this on zoom or in-person?

Both! A majority of sessions will be held virtually over zoom, with one session offered in-person at the regional nodes. The regional node areas are on the territory of the Mi'kmaq (Meeg-mah) (a part of which is colonially called Moncton, NB), and the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations (colonially called Vancouver, BC). An optional nature-based structured activity will be curated for folks outside of the regional nodes to still have a meaningful place-based experience.

6. What if I can’t afford to attend?

If a financial barrier significantly impacts your ability to participate in this series, please let us know in the registration form and we work something out.