Summer reading
Our Community Matters • 15 •
A Village of Women BY VOW WRITERS
The women who wrote this collection of work are all part of VoW Writers, a writing group based at Pottsville Beach Neighbourhood Centre on the northern New South Wales coast. VoW Writers is a subgroup of Village of Women (VoW), a community of women who “vow” to support each other to learn new skills, share their strengths and raise funds. Most importantly, they vow to work towards improving their own situation and each other’s by building a strong, cohesive, not-for-profit collective. Between them, women in the group have experienced many challenges, including domestic and family violence, chronic health issues and sole parenthood. As a result of VoW, individuals who once felt isolated are now part of a resourceful, supportive friendship network that has transformed their lives. VoW Writers is mentored by Rosemary Nissen-Wade, a published poet and former creative writing teacher. Some of the names in this collection are pseudonyms.
Claire
jigsaw. I learnt not just about the support and acceptance in the group, but other activities After 50 years of marital abuse, I landed in this remarkable bunch of women do. I am hospital. I knew I couldn’t back down this time, gently encouraged to participate. There’s a slink back to the house (it had never been a feeling of belonging. home) and – as I’d thought a few days before – just sit in the house for the next 20 years until I looked at a blouse label and thought it said WOSH. Yes, I thought, I can now live maybe 30it was time to die. plus years in WOSH: ”With Out Shit Happening”. A chain of events led me to Pottsville, Thank God for the Village of Women. everything fitting together like a beautiful
{
