30 Jan From Dancing Queen Mountain to the Ocean of Giftedness

Thanks to your generous support, the CATA Writers’ Workshop embarked on a powerful writing project— creating a vibrant collection of poetry and art celebrating the traits that make them who they are.

Inspired by the poem Geography by Joan Colby, CATA writers spend several weeks learning juicy new geography terms, exploring places in the world that they identify with, that they want to visit, that they worry about or want to keep in mind— and writing about the unique traits they see in themselves.

Then, the writers used their traits to create personal maps, with locations like Busybody City, Dancing Queen Mountains, the Island of Loyalty, and the Ocean of Giftedness.

With inspiration from their maps, CATA writers created powerful poems reflecting on the qualities they see in themselves— and in the larger world.

The planet has four directions.

In every direction,
there are different people
with different voices
and different languages.

Sometimes the same river
goes through different countries.

These rivers are like a connection.

–Tyler Baronas

Thanks to writer and CATA Faculty Artist Janet Elsbach for leading these workshops– and to our CATA supporters who make our Writing Workshop possible!

Your support makes life-changing programs like this possible. We can’t do it without you! Donate to CATA and make a difference today!