Signs of Your True Voice: First Words, Breakthroughs, Trust, and Transformation

As writers and poets, we often wonder: who is this porous and gullible and hungry person writing my poems, who is feeding her and is she for real? Is it truly me who wrote this? Is that my story, my voice? Why don’t I sound like myself—or worse, why does my self sound…not quite right? These questions can be painful, discouraging, silencing. Let’s move beyond them and go deeper into the real mysteries, the useful ones, the ones that help us write and propel us further into our journey as writers. In this talk, Brenda Shaughnessy examined why some “first words” last, what trusting your voice means, and how inchoate feelings can be transformed into art. This event took place on April 19, 2022. Learn more: https://cswr.hds.harvard.edu/