SUNDAY INK

Every Sunday morning I meet with eight women. We write for thirty-one minutes. We set a timer, write, and then read our work to each other. We do not critique. Sometimes we sigh, express pure delight, or share a comment.

This practice of timed-writing—writing to the clock—was taught to me by Robert J. Ray and Jack Remick, who were trained by Natalie Goldberg. In this ritual: the mind and body are trained to write deep; to keep the pen moving and never cross out; to awaken, spur, rattle, unravel, and expand the subconscious.

Excerpt from “Zero through Nine”

I love the horror of zero
dressing up in obscurity
the unknown snuff of the candle
call me stranger geranium.
—Geri Gale

Sunday Ink: Works by the Uptown Writers is an eclectic, multi-genre anthology of fiction and fairy tale, poetry and play, with a touch of memoir, conceived by women who indulge in the practice of timed-writing.

One month after the book was published, writer and poet Sandra E. Jones (1948–2010) died after battling multiple myeloma. The book is a testament to our commitment to writing and art, as well as an artifact of Sandra’s gifts she left us and the world.

Sunday Ink: Works by the Uptown Writers
ISBN 9781452835426