Where does your story begin?
If you are like most people, your story has many beginnings. For instance, right now.
How do you begin to turn your “beginning” memories into words, then sentences, and finally into stories on a page? One. Word. At. A. Time.
Whether or not you are a writer or not sure if you are a writer, you are in the right place. Perhaps the reason you came here is to find resources to support your writing or you are just browsing to find a nonjudgmental place to begin to write. Again, you are in the right place
My website offers resources for writers and workshops for both emerging and seasoned writers.
“Emerging” writers are those of us who have been trying to write but need inspiration to get started, or motivation, support and encouragement to keep writing. Perhaps you are asking yourself these questions: “Am I a writer?” “Do I have anything to say as a writer?” “Who cares about what I have to say about my life, my opinions, my story?”
My answers to these questions are (in order of each question): “Yes!” “Yes!” “You do. Because you cared enough to visit this website for writers and you are not alone in questioning the value and importance of sharing the stories of you life.”
By “seasoned” writers, I refer to those who have been writing for years or months and have already written a body of work and would like a format to read and receive feedback.
You may have reached a place where you are not quite sure where to go or how to organize the pieces you have written. Or, you are seeking affirmation for what you have written so far or need to be pointed in the right direction to continue.
You may also be somewhere “in between.” You used to write but haven’t written in years. You don’t know how to begin. Most of my students are in the “between” place.
My workshops support writers in all stages of writing. I know how to help each of you because I have been each of you at various stages in my writing life.
My Story
Cindy Beer-Fouhy is a poet, freelance writer and writing instructor at the Writing Institute at Sarah Lawrence College and teaching artist through ArtWestchester, BOCES and Lifetime Arts.
Cindy has been teaching writing in schools and community facilities for over 50 years. As founder and Director of the Literary Arts Dept. at the Northern Westchester Center for the Arts, she created and curated the award winning weekly poetry series The Creative Arts Cafe which featured established poets of world-wide acclaim including Billy Collins, Marie Howe, Amiri Baraka, Kenneth Koch, Richard Howard, Molly Peacock and others. She has studied poetry writing with poets Billy Collins, Patricia Spears Jones, Ron Price and Molly Peacock.
Cindy earned a BA in English and an MS in Education and is a NYS Certified Teacher in English and Early Childhood Education. Her poetry and essays have been published widely in literary journals, magazines and anthologies including Bronx Accent: A Literary and Pictorial History of the Borough (Rutgers University Press) and her articles and interviews appear in Westchester Arts Council’s Arts News.
Cindy participated on the poetry jury panel for the National Jewish Book Council Poetry Awards and was publicist and a consultant for the Master of Arts in Writing program at Manhattanville College. She is on the advisory committee of the Hudson Valley Writers Center’s Slapering Hol Press and is a member of the National Writers Project. She is a Teaching Artist through ArtsWestchester, Lifetime Arts, and BOCES and is currently a writing instructor at The Writing Institute at Sarah Lawrence College where she teaches Life Stories: A Writing Workshop for Ages 50+
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