HEART ON THE PAGE: A PORTABLE WRITING WORKSHOP is an inspirational guide for individual writers and writing instructors who work in institutions, non-profit organizations, and healing centers. It interweaves stories of workshops held in community spaces with practical advice on how to guide, encourage and inspire writers who may not think of themselves as writers but have a story to tell. Suggestions of specific poems and prompts to access intuitive guidance and unblock creativity are interwoven with writing exercises.

Writing and sharing stories activates the ability to find meaning after trauma, loss, or transition. The book is valuable for individuals who write on their own and staff or volunteers who work either one-on-one or in groups. It is a resource for those wishing to incorporate the arts as a part of integrative medicine and those who wish to develop deeper self-awareness for their own self-care while providing service and care for others.

Heart on the Pageis a compilation of the life’s work of Wendy Brown-Báez, creator of Writing Circles for Healing. She has facilitated writing workshops for more than fifteen years in community spaces including human service and arts non-profits; institutions such as schools, prisons and libraries; healing centers; spiritual centers and yoga studios; bookstores and arts organizations. The poems and prompts were used successfully in her workshops and she offers tips and suggestions on how to engage participants with physical or emotional health challenges.

“It was in reading Heart on the Page that I finally and fully understood Wendy’s teaching. Her approach to writing… (is) rooted in life, and loss and, importantly, the will to find a path back to light. For Wendy, rebuilding happened through words. She wrote her way back, not just to surviving, but to vibrancy. She developed a writing practice, which is to say, she developed a practice of turning pain into art. —Jennifer Bowen, founder and artistic director of MPWW