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Outreach

Amherst Writers & Artists is committed to using the AWA writing group method to support and strengthen the voices of people who have traditionally been silenced in our society.

Poverty, discrimination and abuse all work to isolate and silence people. AWA writing groups can broaden the horizons of the voiceless, the disempowered and the under-served across race, age, and class. Amherst Writers & Artists is dedicated to social justice, to the celebration of the creative spirit in each person, and to a world in which all voices are heard and everyone's story is valued. AWA works to achieve these goals by providing and supporting free creative writing workshops to under-served populations.


History
Pat Schneider began an AWA writing group in 1985 in a public housing project in Chicopee, MA. The remarkable group of low-income women with whom she wrote became strong advocates for the use of the AWA method as a tool for social change. As each of them individually found her voice, and as they wrote together in community, they worked with Pat to adapt the AWA method for low-income women and other under-served people. For each woman, the AWA writing group provided a forum for creative self-expression, a place to develop a sense of self, of confidence and of personal agency. Every one of the women in this original group went on to achieve more education; some now hold advanced and professional degrees. Most moved out of public housing; some now own their own homes. Many now lead AWA writing groups for other low-income women.

AWA Institute Board of Directors, 1999

In 1993, the members of the original Chicopee writing group formed the Amherst Writers & Artists Institute (AWAI) to formalize their community and their mission. When these women decided to publish their work, they began the AWA Press with Pat in order to put their voices out into the world. When they wanted more people to work with other low-income women in other locations, they worked with Pat to develop a training program to train potential group leaders in the AWA method and in the specialized application of the method to under-served people. The Press and the training program continue to this day.

When Pat Schneider retired in 2004, AWAI became an integral part of the non-profit organization that is Amherst Writers & Artists today. Two of the original Chicopee writing group members sit on the AWA Board of Directors, and all of the original group members who are still living have participated in redeveloping the vision and mission of AWA.

Since the beginning of the outreach writing groups, AWA has sponsored or supported writing groups for:

Robin Therrien at her graduation
Robin Therrien at her graduation.
Youth at risk
Women of color
Low-income women
Cancer survivors
People with disabilities
Pregnant and parenting teens
Survivors of domestic violence
People struggling with substance abuse
Gay and lesbian youth
Juveniles in locked facilities
Children
People with Alzheimer's Disease
The homeless
many other traditionally silenced populations

 


 

 

 

 

 

 


Current Outreach
Amherst Writers & Artists currently provides writing groups for low-income women, women of color, women in a shelter for survivors of domestic violence, people with disabilities, and women in prison in Hampshire and Hampden Counties in Western MA.

Sue McWha, leader of Voices of (dis)Ability writing workshop.

These groups are supported with grant funding and donations. Nearly all of our outreach writing groups are led or co-led by low-income women who have taken our training program and are experienced, successful AWA writing group leaders.

Outreach Information Resources
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