Join me in harnessing the healing powers of creative expression to help trauma survivors heal and become agents of change in their own communities.
In 2005, I shared a single poem - "What I Was Wearing" - that sparked a global movement against victim-blaming, inspiring thousands of survivors of gender-based and sexual violence to reclaim their stories. You can watch and listen to a performance reading of "What I Was Wearing" here.
In recent years, I have been leading workshops with survivors of trauma, gender-based and sexual violence, and people with lived experiences of grief and loss. Writing together fosters a community of belonging, in which we discover that we no longer have to be alone. I reacently created the Writing Through Recovery© program, a 12-week narrative justice writing workshop series for people experiencing the aftermath of trauma and loss. This non-clinical adaptation of Dr. Patricia Resick's groundbreaking Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) program leverages the power of writing to help us reclaim our voices, our stories, and our very lives.
Some of the writings from my workshops have been brought together in anthologies. We’ve Been Put Through Fire & Come Out Divine challenges false narratives about sexual violence. We’ve Got Some Things to Say brings together the voices of 50 survivors, exposing the realities of sexual violence and predatory events and dismantling victim-blaming. A third anthology, Making Space for the Light, is forthcoming in 2026.
As I continue to explore and share my own journey, I invite you to join me. Together we can reclaim our voices, create meaning, and build communities of belonging.
Mary Simmerling
Write Where We Belong is a multifaceted Canadian literary and arts organization focused on using writing and art as tools for social justice and healing trauma. With a core dedication to advancing social justice, ending violence, and healing trauma through harnessing the powers of the creative self, Write Where We Belong hosts workshops, literary and arts events, and provides editing and production services for creative works. Write Where We Belong Press curates, edits, and publishes writing that emerges from the layered geographies of structural and gender-based violence, grief, loss, generational trauma, and hope.
By creating spaces for writers and artists of all levels to explore, discover, and share their stories, we hope to cultivate new conversations that will be the impetus for change. Things can be different. We can do better, together.
Discover the power of your creative genius to reclaim your story, advocate for social justice, and heal trauma through art.
We produce, edit, and publish poetry, prose, and anthologies that center truth-telling, creative recovery, and the power of art to create space to bear witness. Our authors write from lived experience, bringing forward work that transforms personal and collective experience into meaning, healing, and hope.
