I am working on a short video about the NY Writers Coalition, which is one of the largest community writing organizations in the country.

The NY Writers Coalition offers free creative writing workshops throughout New York City for people from groups that have been historically deprived of voice in our society, including at-risk and disconnected youth, the homeless and formerly homeless, the incarcerated and formerly incarcerated, war veterans, people with disabilities, cancer and major illness, immigrants, seniors and others.

It’s really quite amazing. Their operating premise is that everyone has a story, everyone has a voice; we’re all writers and writing can be transformative and therapeutic.

Yesterday we videotaped a writing workshop at CIDNY, the Center for Independence for Disabled Individuals near Union Square, and I was reminded of why I love writing and why writing is so important for expression and self-actualization.

The CIDNY Group, which has been meeting regularly for four years, is led by author Avra Wing, whose novel Angie, I Says, a New York Times notable book, was made into the feature film Angie starring Geena Davis and James Gandolfini.

Avra started the workshop with a writing prompt, something she found on Craig’s List about a purple scarf lost in Williamsburg. This was followed by fifteen minutes of writing.

Everyone in the group has some kind of physical or neurological disability. Some members of the group struggled  to write, some struggled to read. One man in particular read haltingly. But it was worth the wait to hear everyone’s incredible written response to the Craig’s List prompt.

One man read about a friend who died a year ago. A woman wrote about a woman with cancer knitting a purple scarf, as she receives chemotherapy. Another participant wrote about a jazz musician, another wrote a poem vividly describing the purple scarf lying on the grey, dirty sidewalk of Williamsburg.

There was poetry, short story, scenes with dialogue, and journal-like writing that wandered into personal confession. After each person read, Avra asked the group to comment and many in the ten person group contributed comments about what stood out, what moved them, which phrases were most striking.

After the workshop, we interviewed the participants individually and heard just how important the group is to them. Quite a few described the warm, non-judgemental environment that enabled them to feel like writers, not “disabled people.”

This was the first time I ever attended one of NYWC workshops, and I feel privileged to have been able to witness it first hand. I look forward to the other shoots, especially Saturday’s seventh annual adult marathon reading, featuring a myriad of writers from NYWC workshops.

This year’s reading takes place at the Andrew Heiskell Library (40 W 20th Street, Manhattan). Light refreshments will be served. Click here for directions. If you are interested in donating to this wonderful organization or would like to attend their Spring Fever fundraiser on May 10th, Go here for more information.