Exploring Nuance on Reproductive Choice

The experiences of people in the throes of their reproductive trajectories are often swept under the rug in favor of a thin, sometimes painful, narrative about the nuclear family as a social unit. Decisions to become or not become a parent, experiences of loss, as well as structural, traumatic, political, physiological, societal, or financial challenges that prevent us from exercising choice around our reproductive trajectory, and everything in between are all topics writers are encouraged to expand on in this workshop. In the absence of retribution as repair, we turn to storytelling. Sharing and finding solace in mutual disturbance, pain, and joy regarding our experiences of parenting, of making choices to be parents or to not be parents, what that feels like, how we landed in these places, and where that leaves us.

Participants are encouraged to bring a piece of writing on the above spectrum of experiences to this workshop. Unpolished, unseen, and complicated pieces are encouraged. This may be a few sentences from the notes app on their phone, a song, a poem, or a text message. Kerry will lead a discussion on these pieces and then guide workshopgoers through a series of prompts intended to give space to nuance and deepen their writing practice.