FROM OUR PRODUCER & HOST
KELLY DUMAR
(she/her) Boston based poet, playwright, daily blogger, and leader of creative writing organizations—in person and online—for 30 years. Kelly's philosophy about teaching and coaching is simple: Your stories are not only meaningful, they are beautiful, and they deserve to be written, crafted and shared.
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The Gift of PTSD: A Reading & Talk with
Doctor, Healer, Patient, Writer
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I met Dr. Hilton Koppe, our next Journal of Expressive Writing featured author, through the Transformative Language Arts Network when he attended one of my How Pictures Heal workshops. Since then, I’ve had the pleasure of seeing his creative nonfiction and poetry expand and flourish through many drafts and publications.
Smart, compassionate, funny, and fascinating, Hilton’s writing explores his roots as an immigrant to Australia from Europe, his practice as a country doctor for 30 years, his diagnosis of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in 2019, and his journey as he turns his capacity to heal toward caring for himself.
Hilton has just published his memoir, One Curious Doctor: A Memoir of Medicine, Migration and Mortality, and I’m thrilled to have him read from it, followed by a Q&A, this Thursday night, November 17, 2022 via Zoom, from 7-8:30 p.m. in the Journal's monthly OPEN MIC series.
Hilton says, “One Curious Doctor was born out of my experiences working as a doctor in small-town Australia. Some stories have their roots in my personal journey as a migrant growing up in 1960's Sydney. As the descendent of grandparents who were forced to escape Europe to survive. And as the son of parents who died prematurely from conditions that modern medicine, my professional domain, could not cure.
“In 2019, these worlds collided. I was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. I received this diagnosis both as a shock - This can't be happening to me. I'm a doctor. Not a patient! And as a gift - Does this mean I actually get to rest now?”
Well, for a creative, humane, and perceptive man like Hilton, writing is exactly the kind of “rest” he truly needed for his own healing—and ours. Those of us who have experienced the power of expressive writing know how necessary and healing the practice of writing is. In fact, Hilton facilitates reflective writing workshops for doctors and other health professionals with the goal of deepening their compassion, overcoming professional isolation, and reducing risk of burnout. His workshops have been adapted for people living with chronic and mental illnesses. Hilton has been invited to present his workshops all the way from Byron Writers Festival to Harvard Medical School.
One Curious Doctor offers the reader an exceptional experience of honesty, vulnerability, insight, and transformation. Hilton Koppe, doctor turned patient, turned writer, takes us on his momentous journey of a life awakened by the practice of medicine and the necessity of giving it up. Hilton has listened deeply to the human heart, his patients' and his own.
I highly recommend his beautifully crafted memoir, and I look forward to his feature and our conversation with you on Thursday night. He will be followed by 15 pre-registered readers in the OPEN MIC portion of the event who will read their work for 3 minutes each.
We have a few spots still available to read your work for 3 minutes. If you would like to read your work, you must pre-register ahead of time.
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See you then!
Kelly
All OPEN MIC events are FREE to attend and OPEN TO ALL, but you do need to register ahead of time.
The Journal of Expressive Writing OPEN MIC is produced and hosted by Kelly DuMar.
Read about our upcoming featured authors on our OPEN MIC page.
Journal of Expressive Writing Submissions
Our Call for Submissions is always open,
because there is never a deadline on creativity. Never a fee to submit.
New content published weekly. All voices wanted!
About the Founder and Editor-in-Chief:
Jennifer A. Minotti (she/her) is a Writer-in-Residence at the Center for Women's Health and Human Rights at Suffolk University. For the past 25 years, she has dedicated her professional life toward working for the betterment of society. For 17 years, Jen worked at Education Development Center (EDC)—a global non-profit working to improve education, health, and economic opportunities worldwide—in a variety of technology, research, writing, and leadership roles.
In 2012, Jen founded the Women's Writing Circle as a means to merge her passions for expressive writing, positive psychology, community organizing, women’s health, and social activism. In 2020, she founded the Journal of Expressive Writing in order to provide a place for sharing expressive writing, believing that we need this space on a fundamental, human level, individually and collectively. Jen is a graduate of Boston University (B.S.) and Columbia University (M.A., M.Ed). Her writing has appeared in numerous refereed journals, anthologies and literary publications.