"Write what should not be forgotten."
–Isabel Allende

There are people who have made us who we are today: parents and grandparents, teachers and mentors, artists and authors. What happens when one of those people passes? What does their passing call upon us to do—to further their work in the world, to heal the void left behind, and to better understand the gifts they've given us?

In this workshop, author Susan DeFreitas will share the stories behind some of the larger-the-life activists and creative visionaries who've inspired her work and invite us to think about the person or people who have had significant impacts on our own lives. Through creative exercises and discussion, we’ll dig into the legacies of important individuals that we each help to carry.  As we consider the ways we have been enriched by those who've gone before us, we'll gain insight into how we might better carry their legacies forward and even create our own.

Participants are encouraged to read DeFreitas’ essay on Ursula K. Le Guin, Not A Circle, Not A Line, which appeared in the Winter 2021 issue of Oregon Humanities magazine.

Advanced registration is required; click here to register.

Presenter Bio

Susan DeFreitas is the author of the novel Hot Season, which won a Gold IPPY Award, and the editor of Dispatches from Anarres: Tales in Tribute to Ursula K. Le Guin. Her work has been featured in the Writer’s Chronicle, Huffington Post, Utne Reader, Story magazine, Daily Science Fiction, Portland Monthly, and High Desert Journal, as well as other journals and anthologies. An American of Indo-Guyanese descent, she divides her time between Santa Fe, New Mexico and Portland, Oregon and has served as an independent editor and book coach since 2009.