Introduction

“Thursdays—when the workshop meets—is homecoming time with likeminded, like-spirited people. I view it as my oasis.” — Chardelle Imani Lassiter,

Workshop Participant

ASC’s Creative Writing Workshop is indeed an oasis—a place of creative fertility, of refuge and release. A place where imagination flourishes, and where the deeper self, the true self, is nurtured, encouraged, and engaged.

The workshop, which has met weekly for six and half years, is the “think-tank” where most of the poems you’ll read in this, the ninth issue of Situations, were created.

The workshop not only cultivates creative expression, but supports participants in nurturing their own sense of well-being. The class is but one expression of how ASC embodies its mission of “helping many, one by one.”

This year, for example, the entire summer session was led by ASC Poetry Leaders—longtime workshop participants who received training and support through the Zwickler Memorial Foundation Poetry Leadership Program that has enabled them to run the workshop on their own. From June through August, ASC’s Poetry Leaders developed their own curricula and successfully facilitated the weekly workshops. Another round of training to prepare the “next generation” of Poetry Leaders is planned for 2007.

ASC also continues to provide exposure for its talented cadre of poets on its website. Check out the Zwickler Poetry Page at www.ascnyc.org to read poems and interviews featuring ASC’s poets, along with information about the workshop, the Poetry Leadership Program, and ASC as a whole.

Enjoy this issue of Situations, and savor every word and insight these amazing poets have to offer.

Gerry Gomez Pearlberg Workshop Leader