Stories that Heal: A Writing Workshop and Collaborative Reading

John F. Kennedy noted, “[T]he great enemy of truth is very often not the lie—deliberate, contrived and dishonest—but the myth—persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic.” While the myth of American Exceptionalism has inspired generations with tales of hard work leading to prosperity, its shadow side erases genocide, omits racial and economic injustice, and affords personhood to corporations but not to immigrants. How will the world change if we tell different foundational stories?

Please join us for an evening of exploring, writing, and sharing stories that heal from alternative, non-dominant storytelling traditions. In a relaxed, open environment, we’ll rotate through mini writing workshops led by Claudia Castro Luna, Shankar Narayan, and Harold Taw. Then we’ll have the opportunity to share our quick creations in a collaborative reading.

No experience necessary: we are all storytellers, whether we recognize it or not, and now, more than ever, we need stories that heal rather than dominate. Let’s celebrate alternative narratives and recognize, create, and support stories that nourish and liberate.

This evening is made possible by a grant from King County’s 4Culture, and is co-presented by WordsWest Literary Series and Raven Chronicles Press.

Claudia Castro Luna is an Academy of American Poets Poet Laureate fellow (2019), WA State Poet Laureate (2018 – 2021) and Seattle’s inaugural Civic Poet (2015-2018). She is the author of Cipota Under The Moon and Killing Marías, both shortlisted for the WA State Book Award in poetry 2023, 2018 respectively; One River, A Thousand Voices; and the chapbook This City. Her most recent non-fiction is in There's a Revolution Outside My Love: Letter from a Crisis and in Memory's Vault: The Poetic Heart of Fort Worden. Born in El Salvador she now lives in English and Spanish, and writes and teaches in Seattle on unceded Duwamish lands. Follow her on instagram at claudiacastroluna.

Shankar Narayan explores identity, power, mythology, and technology in a world where the body is flung across borders yet possesses unrivaled power to transcend them. Shankar is a five-time Pushcart Prize nominee and the winner of prizes and fellowships from Kundiman, Hugo House, Jack Straw, Flyway, and River Heron. He is a 4Culture grant recipient for Claiming Space, a project to lift the voices of writers of color, and his chapbook, Postcards From the New World, won the Paper Nautilus Debut Series chapbook prize. Shankar draws strength from his global upbringing and from his work at the intersection of civil rights and technology. In Seattle, he awakens to the wonders of Cascadia every day, but his heart yearns east to his other hometown, Delhi. Connect with him at shankarnarayan.net.

Harold Taw is a playwright and multi-form writer. His debut novel was Adventures of the Karaoke King (Lake Union Publishing, 2011). His writing has featured on NPR, in a New York Times bestselling anthology, and in The Seattle Times; his screenplay Dog Park was a 2023 LA LGBTQ+ Film Festival winner. As an inaugural member of The 5th Ave Theatre’s Writers Group, Harold wrote the book for PERSUASION: A NEW MUSICAL, which premiered at Taproot Theatre in 2017. Recent projects include book and lyrics for a steampunk musical (4Culture Grant), and a play about digital immortality (Seattle CityArtist Grant). Supported by a King County 4Culture grant, Harold is currently writing the young adult trilogy Birth, Suffering, and Death, in which teenaged twins traverse worlds to unravel the mystery of why the world’s adults have been replaced by wild beasts from the past, present, and future. See a staged reading of his play C[Y]PHER in Pork Filled Productions' UNLEASHED Festival in June 2025.

WordsWest was curated by West Seattle writers Katy E. Ellis, Susan Rich, and Harold Taw from 2014 to 2019. Occasionally, WordsWest continues to host pop-up events.

Raven Chronicles Press is a nonprofit, independent publishing press and literary organization. Its anthology Take a Stand, Art Against Hate won the 2021 Washington State Book Award for Poetry. Its online magazine of art, videos, and the written and spoken word may be found at https://www.ravenchronicles.org/ .

4Culture provides funding and support for the cultural work that makes King County vibrant.

For more information, please contact d29yZHN3ZXN0bGl0ZXJhcnkgfCBnbWFpbCAhIGNvbQ== or visit https://wordswestliterary.weebly.com/next-event.html

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