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ABOUT SOWING THE SEEDS
from the introduction to Sowing the Seeds, una cosecha de recuerdos |
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In the spring of 2000, Rosi Andrade, Ph.D., met with Angie Valenzuela and Anita Ramirez, co-owners of R & V Books and Graphics. They conceived a project with the goal of providing Latina/Chicana and other women access to humanities related activities. These would include lectures, discussions, and creative writing activities. Thus the seeds were planted and in April of that year, the Southwest Institute for Research on Women (SIROW) at the University of Arizona sponsored our proposals to the Arizona Humanities Council and the Stocker Foundation. Both proposals were funded and Tucson authors, Elena Díaz Björkquist (Suffer Smoke) and Patricia Preciado Martin (Amor Eterno) were recruited to help facilitate the project. Sowing the Seeds: Promoting the Humanities in our Communities was the result.
At the first meeting, fifteen Latina/Chicana women attended, most of us educators and librarians. We shared our backgrounds and our interests and expressed what we wanted to gain from the group. For many of us, it was like finding a long lost branch of our family. What a joy to find women who not only had a similar cultural background and language but were also interested in writing. Some of us had written stories and poems but did not have the courage to show them to anyone. Others had been in writing groups before but had stopped attending when the other members did not understand the Spanish that sprinkled our writing. Still others harbored a secret desire to write but had not yet made the time or commitment to do so. As the months passed our bond grew stronger and members told friends about Sowing the Seeds and other women joined our group. Some of these women were not Latinas/Chicanas but they related to the camaraderie of the group and as we shared our stories, we found that we had experiences in common.
Comadres look forward to our meeting once a month. The three hours we’ve set aside to share our writing, exchange information, or listen to guest speakers are never enough time and we find ourselves continuing our meeting over a potluck lunch. We enjoy celebrating holidays together by hosting special events. In December of 2001, we were honored to have author Denise Chavez (Loving Pedro Infante) as a guest speaker at our Holiday meeting.
We’ve also had Pat Mora, Bobby Salinas, and Stella Pope Duarte speak to us.
Each year we’ve sponsored a retreat to allow us to get away from our familiar surroundings and experience creativity in a different way. Our first retreat was in Tubac, Arizona in 2001. Three local authors, Elena Díaz Björkquist, Patricia Preciado Martin, and Connie Spittler, conducted writing workshops to encourage us to begin writing. It was there that we conceived the idea for publishing our first anthology and members began to write with purpose. In the following years we’ve sponsored writing workshops and conferences open to the community. We’ve also had workshops to put us in touch with our spiritual selves. We’ve learned to make Native American drums, writers' muse dolls, and Día de los Muertos shrines.
Since we've been together as a group, our friendships have blossomed and we’ve come to regard one another as comadres. In the Latino/Chicano culture a comadre is the name by which the godmother addresses the mother of her godchild and is in turn addressed by the mother. The relationship between the two women is a close one, as close as a member of the extended family. Some of us have also been referred to as madrinas in baptizing one another’s work. Madrina is the name by which the godchild addresses the godmother. She is as revered as the child’s mother. This spirit of comadrazco is integral to the success of our group.
In Sowing the Seeds, we’ve found support and encouragement to write our stories and share them with others. From our core group of more than 18 women at least that many of us have emerged as writers in our anthology. Currently our membership is 20 Comadres. | |
2002 - 2009 Update
Our anthology, Sowing the Seeds, una cosecha de recuerdos, was published in 2002. It was selected as one of the 100 best books on the Southwest for that year. Currently we are writing poems, essays, and memoirs for our new anthology, Our Spirits, Our Reality.
In 2003, we hosted our first Mujeres Writing Conference held at Mujer Sana/Healthy Woman. We received funding from the Arizona Humanities Council. Thirty-five participants attended five workshops.
In February of 2006, five of our Comadres presented a panel at the Pima College International Women’s Day Conference on “The Healing Power of Writing.” In September, Our Comadre, Connie Spittler, presented a workshop on Georgia O’Keeffe at our regular meeting. In October, we had a creativity/spiritual retreat at the studio of local artist, Ursela Gurau. She taught us painting techniques to use on shoes, purses, and handbags. For our Holiday Party in December, Stella Pope Duarte presented a writing workshop.
In 2007, we decided to have Comadres take turns to host the meetings in their homes. We set our program agenda for the year in January. A few Comadres went to the Borders Book Festival in April. Also in April, for our spiritual retreat, we made Native American hoop drums. In July, we were invited to read from our first anthology at Antigones Book Store. After the reading several Comadres read selections from our soon to be published anthology during the open mic event. We also did a similar reading at the Raices Gallery. In August, we hosted our second Mujeres Writing Conference at the YWCA. We received a mini-grant from the Tucson Pima Arts Council. We hosted 64 women, held four workshops, had a catered lunch, and invited Denise Chavez as our keynote speaker. Our remaining programs included a workshop with nationally known author, Himilce Novas in October, a papel picado making workshop in November when we set up our altar for el Día de los Muertos, and we celebrated at our Holiday Party in December.
In January of 2008 we wrote out our writing goals and objectives for the new year, giving priority to finishing our anthology and to taking better care of our health and made plans for our annual Mujeres Writing Conference. To further one of our goals, we decided to attend "Heart to Heart," a conference dealing with heart health instead of holding a meeting in February. October the planning and work we did the previous months culminated in the Mujeres Writing Conference co-sponsored and held at the YWCA. Denise Chavez was again our keynote speaker. Writing workshops were led by Connie Spittler, Himilce Novas, Rosi Andrade, and Elena Díaz Bjorkquist. In November, Elena Díaz Bjorkquist facilitated a workshop on making retablos for our el Día de los Muertos altar.
January of 2009 saw us making out our writing goals and objectives, both individual and organizational. We decided that it would be better to hold workshops throughout the year instead of a Mujeres Conference this year. In March instead of a regular meeting we attended and volunteered at the first annual Tucson Festival of Books. Our Mujeres Wriiting Workshops Series kicked off with a poetry workshop facilitated by local poet, Rita Magdaleno. Other workshops will follow in July and November. See News a& Events for more information.
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We Continue to Grow!
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As an organization Sowing the Seeds continues to evolve and grow. By the same token, its Comadres as individuals have also grown. Each year we have gained new members, been involved in more activities, and empowered our members to promote the humanities in our communities. Currently we have 30 Comadres ranging in age from our late 20's to early 90's!
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