FRIENDS OF (W)RITES OF PASSAGE:
(W)e are forever updating this page for the following reasons: (w)e are consistently working to expand our community, making new friends all the time, and our (w)riters are continuously, always becoming: maybe they're publishing their first book (or their seventh) and/or teaching their own workshops and/or working as editors and/or writing coaches and/or sensitivity readers and/or book designers and/or literary assistants and/or hosting literary events and/or giving birth to literary movements and/or starting small presses and/or earning degrees in the craft of writing. In other words, this page is infinitely a work-in-progress, and if it seems (w)e have forgotten you, please know (w)e haven't—(w)e either don't know what you've further become or made or done—or else (w)e're buried in other words. No matter what, let us know what to add, and (w)e will follow through with the trajectory of that gentle nudge as soon as (w)e can. (W)e love you all.
Julia Brennan: Julia is the author of the novel Hunting Season which won the 2019 Tarpaulin Sky Book Award. She also teaches creative writing workshops and has a website just for this forthcoming. For now you can find out about what classes she is offering by following her on Instagram. Here's her website—please buy her book and reach out to her about getting on her mailing list too: https://www.julianellbrennan.com
CA Conrad: is someone working in the world of divinatory poetics who inspired Sarah Elizabeth Schantz, the founder of (W)rites of Passage. CA Conrad is the second writer to be invited to our Guest Author Workshop Series and is an artist who has shaped the way we approach the ritual including the (w)rites we passage through. Please check out their website: http://bit.ly/88CAConrad
Collective Aporia: This literary collective orbits the space of (W)rites of Passage as (w)e orbit their delta in return (often exchanging love letters via shooting stars in the way of shared community members); a nonprofit, Collective Aporia questions the edges, thus is ever-expansive and eternally-expanding as it traverses the globe, escapes the confines, and seeks social justice by being infinitely open to change. Click here if you too would like to expand: https://www.collectiveaporia.com/manifesto.html#/
Emily Collins | The Literary Copywriter: Emily is a writer whose work has been published in New Orleans Review, The Atticus Review, The Florida Review, and many others. She also works as a technical editor and a "literary copywriter" doing the same sort of work Sarah from (W) does (but everyone has their own special touches, right?). Emily teamed up with Erin Jendras listed below in alphabetical order back in 2021 to teach Burn Down the Mill as one of The (W)rites of Passage Guest Author Workshop Series. This workshop focused on writers who are also survivors of violence and was a beautiful and powerful moment in the history of this community. If you'd like to read Emily's writing, hire her for a manuscript edit, or learn more about her, please visit: https://www.emilycollinswriter.com
Steven Dunn: if you've ever taken a seasonal series from (W)rites of Passage, you have likely been given at least one excerpt from one of Steven's books Potted Meat or water & power; Steven was the very first writer (w)e invited to our Guest Author Workshop Series. He's not only an amazing writer who practices softness but a beloved teacher too; aka "Pothole," Steven is deep in these streets and you can find him here: http://www.stevencdunn.com
Four Queens: Founded by Kristen E. Nelson & Selah Saterstrom, Four Queens invokes the four queens of the Tarot, and is both a platform and paradigm centering divination & divinatory projects via a variety of offerings, classes, and services. Both Kristen and Selah are phenomenal writers whose work you should purchase and devour immediately. Selah has been an inspiration and instrumental source of support for Sarah, the founder of (W)rites of Passage. Check these queens out: www.fourqueens.org
Gesture Press & Journal: Heather Goodrich is Editor-in-Chief at this feminist press that is potentially interested in publishing your next book—Gesture also moonlights as a journal when the mood strikes—so please consider submitting to Gesture or buying books from them at the following link: www.gesturepressandjournal.com
Sydney Fowler | Inqueery Services: Sydney started their Sensitivity Reading business, Inqueery, LLC., in 2015 after they graduated with a Double BA in Queer Studies and Psychology. As a sensitivity reader, they specialize in the LGBTIQA+ experience, interpersonal violence, alternative relationships, and mental illness. If any of those topics apply to your work-in-progress, we highly recommend Sydney's sensitivity reading services. Sydney is also a writer, writing instructor (they teach at Lighthouse Writers Workshop in both the Young Writers and Adult Community Engagement Programs. To hire Sydney, or to find out more about them, please visit their website: https://www.sensitivityreader.com
Ariel Gore: When Sarah was a brand new mama to her biological baby Story and her stepdaughter Kaya she discovered Breeder: Real-Life Stories from the New Generation of Mothers, an anthology co-edited by Gore and Bee Lavender, which then led to her subscribing to the radical parenting zine, Hip Mama, the first thing she ever subscribed to, and a publication she devoured whenever a new issue came out. Gore, and the other alternative parents she showcased, gave Sarah permission to not only mother intuitively but to pursue life as a writer for herself and her children. Gore's wide array of publications, endeavors, and overall philosophy has been, and will likely continue to be hugely influential to Sarah's own parenting, teaching, and craft (both witchcraft and writing craft). Ariel graced our neck of the Zoom woods as one of our featured facilitators for The (W)rites of Passage Guest Author Workshop Series. You can further support Gore by purchasing one or all of her many books and you could take workshops from her at http://literarykitchen.net
HR Hegnauer: we recommend buying and reading HR's published poetry books, but also HR's skills to design your next book, or to design your author website, or your logo, or your bookmarks, or whatever design needs your heart might desire—you can find all of your HR needs at this link: www.hrhegnauer.com
Hillary Leftwich & Al·che·my Author Services & Writing Workshops: Hillary Leftwich is a writer, a teacher, and a witch who has a very similar ethos to (W)rites of Passage (consider her and her services a twin). Like (W)rites of Passage, and writing midwife Sarah Elizabeth Schantz, Hillary is equally interested in liberating the liberal arts and making the workshop space a space for all writers, not just writers working in the realm of academia, or writers coming from privilege. Her book Ghosts Are Just Strangers Who Know How to Knock has knocked on our hearts here at (W) and pages of it have certainly haunted some of our reading lists. To celebrate her hybrid memoir Aura (2022), Hillary was one of our esteemed and beloved guests for The (W)rites of Passage Guest Author Workshop Series where she helped us dive deeper into our writing using the Tarot and special spreads she's designed to open character and articulate the narrative. Check her alchemy out at the following website: https://hillaryleftwich.wordpress.com
Erin Jendras & Writes Magic: Erin Jendras attended the first-ever workshop hosted by (W)rites of Passage back in 2014 (Mystic Winter) and won us over with her tenderness and tears. A certified book coach Erin specializes in speculative fiction and is motivated to diversify the writers working within this genre by helping you find your way. Find out more by following: https://www.erinwritesmagic.com/about
Sara Veglahn: Once upon a time, Sara was one of Sarah's professors at Naropa University; Sara worked as a beloved professor at the Jack Kerouac School for over a decade and has published two incredible (and haunting) novels, The Mayflies and The Ladies. Sara is one of the editors and teachers Sarah most commonly refers students and writers to when she can't take on a new client or project. Her website is: https://saraveglahn.com
Your Name Here: