Hillsdale senior group continues to write, thrive

After a writers workshop, a group at The Watershed finds common ground

By Leigh Nishi-strattner

The Southwest Community Connection, Feb 1, 2010

Photo courtesy Matt Blair / The Southwest Community Connection

Bernardine Dovee leads a group of senior writers who met during a 10-week Write Around Portland workshop and continue to meet and write at The Watershed housing complex.

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HILLSDALE — This group of seniors thought they weren’t real writers. They were wrong.

After a 10-week Write Around Portland workshop, a group of seniors meets weekly to continue writing. The workshop ended with a reading in front of approximately 200 community members and publication in the collection: “More Than A Book,” on sale at Powell’s Books. When the fall session workshop drew to a close, the seniors at The Watershed building in Hillsdale decided to continue with their writing, meeting weekly to share works and ideas.

“We all felt a real connection, so we thought we’d at least give it a try,” said Kerry Kirk, a member of the writers group.

Bernadine Dovee, a current member of the writing group, is credited by the group as having instigated the weekly meetings.

“There was valuable stuff coming up,” Dovee said. “I’d been thinking about continuing since the first workshop. We’d built so much trust and found a safe space for our writing.”

The group of writers meeting weekly in Hillsdale didn’t all consider themselves to be writers prior to the workshop.

“I was really afraid,” Kirk said. “It never occurred to me that I could be a writer. It amazed me every time I did it.”

During the workshops, the group leaders would present the writers with a prompt. Dovee commented on the diversity of the stories, despite the same opening prompt or lines.

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