I didn’t get it. I have been participating in the Lowcountry Writing Project for two years now. I have been a student and a teacher, a guest speaker and an organizer. But I just didn’t get it.

Standing in a huge ballroom filled with Writing Project participants from all over the country finally showed me what I was missing. My involvement with LWP makes me part of something larger, deeper, and grander than I had imagined. As I heard speakers explain the state of the organization, cheer on the work of everyone in the room, and describe their own experiences as writers/speakers and teachers of writers/speakers, I saw the breadth and scope of the National Writing Project. I realized what I saw as a noble but small effort to show teachers and students the transformational power of writing was actually part of a long-standing and well-established national movement. Suddenly, I saw that we can change the world.

What did we do there? I participated in panels, heard speakers, and talked with colleagues from Alaska and Arkansas and West Virginia and so many places. I went on my first writing marathon in a place other than Charleston, which showed me once again that the best way to learn a place is to write about it. The marathon sparked a new approach to a book project I had left behind – and helped me to once again feel (rather than merely discuss) the power of writing to transform. I loved being there, and I loved sharing that time with all those amazing writers and teachers of writing.

You can read about the conference here

Will I go back? You bet. And I encourage all of you writers and teachers to consider going next year, too.