In this episode of From the Borderlands…
Author-activist and sister humanitarian, Abbey Carpenter, engages mi hermana de alma, Dora Rodriguez, and me on the topic of “Writing to Change the World” for the June meet-up of the Hope Knows No Borders Book Club & Webinar Series.
It was a special occasion for two reasons:
We celebrated the coming launch of Dora’s new memoir, Dora: A Daughter of Unforgiving Terrain, now available!
And we marked the first anniversary of Crossing the Line: Finding America in the Borderlands by announcing the second edition, with an all-new Author Foreword and revised Epilogue framed around the second Trump regime’s first 100 days, coming to bookstores near you on September 2!
Abbey drew inspiration for this webinar from a book by Mary Pipher called Writing to Change the World. A renowned psychologist and the author of 11 books, among them four New York Times bestsellers, Mary’s aim with Writing to Change the World is to help folks passionate about sharing their point of view craft clear and compelling messages, because, as Mary writes…
In these tumultuous times, don’t we all want to be heard?
Who doesn’t want to transform the world?
Abbey engaged Dora and me on several subjects:
Our writing mission
Why storytelling?
Writing for catharsis
Story structure and voice
Writing to foster awareness and growth
The psychology of change
And how to end a story that has no end, as is the case in both my and Dora’s writing topic: immigration.
We discussed the power of storytelling to touch hearts and change minds, even if only a millimeter at a time. How storytelling allows us to memorialize the lives of those now tragically lost. And that by naming that which is ignored and discussing that which is so horrible and overwhelming, we can expand readers’ consciousness and move them to collective action toward bringing positive change to a flawed world.
It was such a joy to discuss the craft of writing for a change; to share this platform with my dear friend and Hope Knows No Borders Book Club & Webinar Series co-facilitator; and to connect with a new soul sister, Abbey Carpenter. We will reprise this craft talk when Abbey’s forthcoming book on her work for Battalion Search and Rescue, to find those lost in the US borderlands and bring closure to their families and loved ones, is ready for your review, so stay tuned to this space!
We hope you enjoy our discussion. Click the play button above to begin.
If you haven’t ordered, read, and reviewed our books already, you can find them here:
Other Posts you might like by Sarah Towle for Tales of Humanity From the Borderlands:
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