Creative Writing Workshop

I lead a writing workshop for people who are going through drug detox in the Downtown East side. The quality of the work that comes out of our little hour-long exercises is impressive. One man, a quite, brick-wall of a dude with a long face and shaved head, wrote a an poetic piece in response to a photo I had brought to class. But another dude, who didn't participate in the class himself but walked through the common room with his ears perked, was angry and disrespectful.

"That picture looks like testicles."

"Ha, it does," I said.

"How would you know?" I couldn't think of anything to say. He responded for me. "Science class?"

I didn't even realize he was being so before Brick Wall leaned in and apologized for his behavior. "That's alright," I responded. "No, it's not," Brick Wall said. And it dawned on me that this guy had been purposefully disrespecting. Well, whatever. I can leave that place, and he can't.

There's something really satisfying for members of the workshop I think about writing a piece and then hearing our response to it. They read their work out loud, and we react. Seeing that people are directly effected by what they write is a really positive experience for people in recovery I think. One woman, jittery and scabbed and overly polite, smiled broadly when we all applauded her work.

On another note, here's Rick Salutin's response to the new CBC news. What the hell is happenign with that network?

On another