Join The Next Creative Writing Workshop

journal on desk with coffee and pen

The next Writing Workshop is now forming!  Sign up on the form below!

The next session will start on Thursday, April 8th, meeting each Thursday at 4:30 pm PT / 6:30 pm CT / 7:30 pm ET for 2 hours via video chat.

Our online, Unspoken Ink: Creative Writing Workshop is designed to take you on a journey through your cancer diagnosis and into your survivorship with a small group of your young adult cancer survivor peers. Each 8-week Writing Workshop consists of a weekly writing night attended via online video chat. We will get to know one another in an intimate, 18 person setting and address issues that transport us from initial diagnosis into the new normal and survivorship.  To learn more about the method we use, go here!

Where: Online video chat. We’ll send you more information about joining after you register. Please have a microphone headset and a webcam.

Who: Young adult cancer survivors and caregivers.

When: The writing group meets for 2 hours each week, for 8 weeks. A commitment to attend each week is important to group continuity and in creating a safe space. Please be on time 🙂

Join A Morning Writing Workshop

woman writing

We have another Unspoken Ink: Young Adult Cancer Creative Writing Workshop scheduled!

This online workshop starts Wednesday, October 21st and will meet on Wednesdays at 9:30-11:30 am PT / 11:30 am-1:30 pm CT / 12:30-2:30 pm ET for 8 weeks.  The group will consist of 18 young adult cancer survivors and caregivers.  Sign up here!

Our online, Unspoken Ink: Creative Writing Workshop is designed to take you on a journey through your cancer diagnosis and into your survivorship with a small group of your young adult cancer patient/survivor peers. Each 8-week Writing Workshop consists of a weekly writing night attended via online video chat. We will get to know one another in an intimate, 18 person setting and address issues that transport us from initial diagnosis into the new normal and survivorship.  Want a lot more info on how the Writing Workshop works?  Go here!

Where: Online video chat. We’ll send you more information about joining a few days before the workshop begins. Please have a microphone headset and a webcam.

Who: Young adult cancer patients/survivors and young adult cancer caregivers.

(Lacuna Loft considers anyone diagnosed with cancer, at any stage of the experience, to be a survivor!)

When: The writing group meets for 2 hours each week, for 8 weeks. A commitment to attend each week is important to group continuity and in creating a safe space. Please be on time 🙂

Want even more info?  Go here!

Join An 8-Week Writing Workshop

person typing at computer

Interested in some structured, creative writing in a group of other young adults facing cancer as patients, survivors, or caregivers?  Look no further than the next 8-week session of our online, Unspoken Ink: Young Adult Cancer Creative Writing Workshop!

The online workshop is designed to take you on a journey through your cancer diagnosis and into your survivorship with a small group of your young adult cancer patient/survivor peers. Each 8-week Writing Workshop consists of a weekly writing night attended via online video chat. We will get to know one another in an intimate, 18 person setting and address issues that transport us from initial diagnosis into the new normal and survivorship.

The next 8-week session will start on Thursday, May 21st, and will meet each Thursday at 3:30 pm PT / 5:30 pm CT / 6:30 pm ET for 2 hours via video chat through Thursday, July 9th.

Learn more and sign up here!

You Can Write Write Write With Us!

writing in notebook

I am so excited to announce that we have not one, but two versions of the Unspoken Ink: Young Adult Cancer Online Creative Writing Workshop you can now sign up for!

The Spring Session of Unspoken Ink is starting on Tuesday, April 7th and going for 8 weeks via video chat!  It will meet every Tuesday from 5-7 pm PT / 7-9 pm CT / 8-10 pm ET and overlaps a little with the current session of the program.  On top of that, next Thursday, specifically for AYA Awareness Week, Lacuna Loft is hosting an online Open Write Night, aka Unorthodox Ink, which is a one night version of our Unspoken Ink workshop!

Learn more and sign up for both programs here!

Join The Next Writing Workshop

computer and notebook

The next session will start on Wednesday, February 26th, meeting each Wednesday at 5 pm PT / 7 pm CT / 8 pm ET for 2 hours via video chat through Wednesday, April 8th.

Our online, Unspoken Ink: Creative Writing Workshop is designed to take you on a journey through your cancer diagnosis and into your survivorship with a small group of your young adult cancer patient/survivor peers. Each 8-week* Writing Workshop consists of a weekly writing night attended via online video chat. We will get to know one another in an intimate, 18 person setting and address issues that transport us from initial diagnosis into the new normal and survivorship.

*This Winter 2020 session will be 7 weeks instead of the normal 8 weeks.

Where: Online video chat. We’ll send you more information about joining after you register. Please have a microphone headset and a webcam.

Who: Young adult cancer patients/survivors and young adult cancer caregivers.

(Lacuna Loft considers anyone diagnosed with cancer, at any stage of the experience, to be a survivor!)

When: The writing group meets for 2 hours each week, for 8 weeks*. A commitment to attend each week is important to group continuity and in creating a safe space. Please be on time 🙂

Interested in joining a one-night version of the writing workshop?  Check out our Open Write Nights!

How does it work:

  • This workshop uses the Amherst Writing and Artists (AWA) Method.  The facilitator provides a writing prompt and you can use that prompt in any way you’d like to create a story over a set amount of time. Once we’ve finished our writing (yes, the facilitator writes too!), everyone is given the opportunity to read their writing out loud. Though sharing is optional, hearing your own story and hearing someone else’s, teaches us about our experiences and our stories. Once the piece is read, we reflect on the writing – what did we like, what stood out, what did we remember. Everything is considered fiction so we do not respond to the writer as a support group may, but keep the focus on the writing.
  • Sometimes the prompts are about cancer, sometimes indirectly related to cancer, and sometimes not about cancer at all. Above all, the writing program emphasizes that we are more than a diagnosis.
  • Following each weekly session, you may decide to submit your writing to Mallory (mallory@lacunaloft.org) for publication on LacunaLoft.org in their Young Adult Voices program section. This is not mandatory!

Sponsored in part by a grant from Servier.

Join A 3-Part Holiday Journaling Workshop

holiday banner

Lacuna Loft is excited to bring back this special holiday program!

It’s a Wonderful Life: Taking Care during the Holidays.  A 3-part online journaling workshop for young adult cancer patients and survivors.

“It’s beginning to look a lot like” an even busier time of year! The holiday season brings nostalgia (like a favorite song), connection to family and friends and an undercurrent of expectation. There can be an added layer of managing expectations to be positive and happy – even in the middle of treatment or when everyone appears to look “fine” when, inside, they are not.

Finding peace between the wrapping paper and the stuffing is within reach! Join us for a 3 part holiday journal writing workshop to design a plan for low stress, create or reconnect with meaningful traditions, and decorate your soul with a little TLC.

Where: Online video chat. We’ll send you more information about joining after you register. Please have a microphone headset and a webcam.

Who: Young adult cancer patients and survivors.

When: The writing group meets on Sundays at 2 pm PT / 4 pm CT / 5 pm ET for 2 hours each week, for 3 parts, meeting on December 1st, 8th, and 15th.  A commitment to attend every date is important to group continuity and in creating a safe space. Please be on time

The workshop is led by Jean Rowe LCSW, OSW-C.  She is a Certified Journal Therapist who has been in the field of oncology for 15 years and has crafted many journal writing programs for cancer survivors.

Online Writing Workshop Now Forming

woman writing

I am super excited to announce that our next Unspoken Ink: Young Adult Cancer Creative Writing Workshop is now forming!  The group is 8 weeks long and will take you on a journey through your cancer diagnosis and into your survivorship with a small group of your young adult cancer survivor peers.

Starting Tuesday, September 24th, the Fall 2019 Program Session will meet each Tuesday for 8 weeks from 5-7 pm PT / 7-9 pm CT / 8-10 pm ET.  (September 24th – November 12th).

This group is designed to take you on a journey through your cancer diagnosis and into your survivorship with a small group of your young adult cancer survivor peers. Each 8-week program session consists of a weekly writing night (Tuesdays this time around) attended via online video chat. We will get to know one another in an intimate, 15-person setting and address issues that transport us from initial diagnosis into the new normal and survivorship.  Sign up will close as soon as the group is full!

I Look At The Ground Now

Peanuts cartoon strip

I look at the ground now.
I don’t dare lift my head too high.
There are cracks in the sidewalk,
Precariously placed rocks,
And gnarly roots waiting patiently
To trip me up.
I don’t want to be caught off guard.
The truth scrapes up my knees.
It’s cold, and it’s hard.

I look at the ground now.
I put all my weight
In this present moment.
I try to own it –
The place where my body
Connects to the earth.
I count out my footprints
Do they measure my worth?

I look at the ground
In case there isn’t a horizon.
I don’t want to know
That all my stars have fallen.
I don’t want to plan for a future
That might never be here.
I’ll just keep moving forward
Until the ground disappears.

I look at the ground
So I won’t stray from the path.
I know where I’m going,
And there is safety in that.

I look at the ground,
And it is broken and rough.
But I am here.
I am now.
Isn’t that enough?

– Laura P.

How would you respond to the writing prompt, of the Peanuts comic strip?

This writing comes directly from one of our participants in our Unspoken Ink Creative Writing Group for young adult cancer survivors.  The participants met for 2 hours each week, for 8 weeks during our Spring 2019 session.  This writing has not been edited since its original creation, showing the wonderfully raw and powerful prose coming from the courageous writing group participants each week.  If you’d like to sign up for future sessions, please email info@lacunaloft.org or sign up on our interest form.

Join A One Night Creative Writing Workshop

writing in notebook

Interested in checking out what it’s like to join the Unspoken Ink Young Adult Cancer Creative Writing Workshop before committing to 8 weeks of the group? You’re in luck! Sign up for an Open Write Night (aka Unorthodox Ink) happening August 26th!  You can spend an evening with other young adult cancer patients, survivors, and caregivers and do some creative writing while you’re at it.  We’ll guide you through our writing process and you’ll see exactly what joining a full session is like.

Where: Online video chat. We’ll send you more information about joining after you register. Please have a microphone headset, a webcam, and something to write in (or your computer to type on).

Who: Young adult cancer patients, survivors, and caregivers.

When: August 26th, 5:30-7:30 pm PT / 7:30-9:30 pm CT / 8:30-10:30 pm ET.