Since March of 2020, frontline workers have been putting their lives at risk to ensure our communities have access to food, deliveries, health care and other essential services. However, few have been given a chance to reflect on the past year of the pandemic or to share what it is like to live on the edge of history.
Literary Cleveland is launching Voices from the Edge, a trauma-informed creative writing program designed to give frontline workers the opportunity to process their experiences through writing and share their essential, transformative stories with the public.
From April-May 2021, Literary Cleveland offered a series of free online writing workshops for 60 essential workers in Northeast Ohio. Participants engaged with writing, connected with other frontline workers, and crafted their individual stories. Workshops were offered at a variety of days and times to accommodate different work schedules, and participants received an honorarium for their time and creativity.
In November 2021, participant writing was published in an online anthology, presented in a variety of public readings, and distributed in news stories amplified by Literary Cleveland’s media partners to re-engage the public with the individual stories of these workers and transform our understanding of the challenges they face.
Voices from the Edge is made possible through the generous support of the Andrews Foundation, the Char and Chuck Fowler Family Foundation, the Cleveland Foundation, and Neighbor Up. Program partners include the Cleveland Clinic, MetroHealth, Greater Cleveland Nurses Association, Cleveland Emergency Medical Services, Cleveland Division of Firefighters, Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Agency, the Greater Cleveland Food Bank, and Cleveland Rape Crisis Center. The program was designed by Christine Howey and Matt Weinkam, and coordinated by Christopher Johnston. Workshop instructors included Christopher Johnston, Lisa Langford, Vince Robinson, and Logan Smith. Trauma-informed instructor training provided by Kirsti Mouncey.
"I don’t know whose side you’re on,
But I am here for the people
Who work in grocery stores that glow in the morning
And close down for deep cleaning at night..."
– “Say Thank You Say I’m Sorry” by Jericho Brown
Join us Tuesday, November 9 at 7pm for the launch of Voices from the Edge, our virtual anthology of powerful poetry and prose by Northeast Ohio essential workers about their experiences during the pandemic.
Go beyond the headlines and hear directly from doctors and physicians, ICU nurses and home caregivers, emergency personnel and food service workers who may no longer be in the news but are still—after 18 months—on the frontlines of the fight against COVID-19.
The free launch party which will feature readings from contributors, a celebration of all program participants, and the reveal of the new online anthology.
Don't miss essential stories from essential workers. Register for the free anthology launch party on Tuesday, November 9 at 7pm ET via Zoom.
Since March of 2020, frontline workers have been putting their lives at risk to ensure our communities have access to food, deliveries, health care and other essential services. However, few have been given a chance to reflect on the past year of the pandemic or to share what it is like to live on the edge of history.
Literary Cleveland is launching Voices from the Edge, a trauma-informed creative writing program designed to give frontline workers the opportunity to process their experiences through writing and share their essential, transformative stories with the public.
From April-May 2021, Literary Cleveland offered a series of free online writing workshops for 60 essential workers in Northeast Ohio. Participants engaged with writing, connected with other frontline workers, and crafted their individual stories. Workshops were offered at a variety of days and times to accommodate different work schedules, and participants received an honorarium for their time and creativity.
In November 2021, participant writing was published in an online anthology, presented in a variety of public readings, and distributed in news stories amplified by Literary Cleveland’s media partners to re-engage the public with the individual stories of these workers and transform our understanding of the challenges they face.
Voices from the Edge is made possible through the generous support of the Andrews Foundation, the Char and Chuck Fowler Family Foundation, the Cleveland Foundation, and Neighbor Up. Program partners include the Cleveland Clinic, MetroHealth, Greater Cleveland Nurses Association, Cleveland Emergency Medical Services, Cleveland Division of Firefighters, Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Agency, the Greater Cleveland Food Bank, and Cleveland Rape Crisis Center. The program was designed by Christine Howey and Matt Weinkam, and coordinated by Christopher Johnston. Workshop instructors included Christopher Johnston, Lisa Langford, Vince Robinson, and Logan Smith. Trauma-informed instructor training provided by Kirsti Mouncey.
"I don’t know whose side you’re on,
But I am here for the people
Who work in grocery stores that glow in the morning
And close down for deep cleaning at night..."
– “Say Thank You Say I’m Sorry” by Jericho Brown
Vince Robinson is a multi-genre artist, having given time to evolving in music, the visual imagery of photography and the magic of words in poem and song. In addition to poetry, Vince has written for several publications beginning with The Spectrum at KSU to Eschelon Magazine and Crusader Arts and Entertainment. He is currently a writer for the East Side Daily News in Cleveland, Ohio and is a contributor to CAN Journal.
Logan Cutler Smith is a Cleveland-based theatre artist, sculptor, and educator. Logan studied Theatre and Sculpture at Marlboro College in Marlboro, Vermont (’12), before earning an MFA in Creative Writing from Cleveland State University (’16). Logan is a member of the Playwrights' GYM at Dobama Theatre in Cleveland Heights. His plays have been performed at Convergence-Continuum, Cleveland Public Theatre, and Playwrights Local.
Lisa Langford is a Cleveland-based playwright and actor. She received her BA in History from Harvard University and her MFA in playwriting from Cleveland State University. Her play Rastus and Hattie was a 2019 Joyce Award winner (w/ Cleveland Public Theatre) and a 2019 Eugene O’Neill Theater Center National Playwrights Conference finalist. A recipient of the Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award, Lisa is a member of the Dramatist Guild.
Christopher Johnston has written several docudramas based on extensive, in-depth interviewing, including Sexually Explicit Material about people's sexual experiences and beliefs at Cleveland Public Theatre, Ghosts of War about Vietnam veterans at Dobama Theatre, My Body is Blue about a victim of domestic violence at Dobama and convergence-continuum, and Live Bodies for Sale about human trafficking in Northeast Ohio at Playwrights Local.
