Story via Arshia Simkin, The Underline, Orange County Arts Commission
A group of women in their sixties, seventies, and eighties sits around a table in a community center. One by one, the women speak: some with shaking voices and trembling hands. They read from the stories they’ve been working on for the past six weeks—stories that range from intimate narratives of the hardships of immigration and fostering children to funny stories of family anecdotes around the dinner table and colorful tales of travel. The women shed tears, share laughter, and cheer one another on. When it’s over, many of them say that they hadn’t thought of these memories or had a chance to share them in years—or even decades. On a feedback form one participant writes, “Truly a godsend. Everyone felt very relaxed and free to be themselves.”
A Redbud class reading
This storytelling class was an initiative of the Redbud Writing Project (and supported by a NC Arts Council Grant) to bring creative writing to rural and low-income senior citizens. Redbud is a local creative writing organization, headquartered in Raleigh and serving the Triangle; they teach classes out of local bookstores and small businesses, including Flyleaf Books, McIntyres, Golden Fig Books, and My Muses Card Shop. (Full disclosure: I am a co-founder of Redbud.) While their primary offerings are six-week workshops on topics such as writing novels, short stories, memoirs, and poetry, they also offer year-long novel writing and nonfiction intensives, literary themed one-day events such as literary trivia or an “Emo Nite Reading,” and will be hosting their first-ever, week-long international writing retreat in Portugal at the end of September.
One of Redbud’s first classes
Redbud was founded in 2019 by me and Emily Cataneo—two graduates of the North Carolina State University MFA program. One of Redbud’s key aims is to spread access to creative writing—not simply to those who can afford it. “We believe that everyone has a right to the catharsis and healing that creative writing can offer. In short, our mission is creative writing for all,” Cataneo said.
Redbud co-founders Arshia Simkin and Emily Cataneo
Redbud’s students are diverse—ranging from recent college graduates who miss structured time to write to busy professionals who are looking for a creative outlet to retirees who want to set down their legacy. Roberto Cofresi, a Chapel Hill resident, joined Redbud for a “Advanced Fiction Workshop” in 2019 and has taken multiple advanced fiction classes since then; through these classes, he started and finished a novel, revised it, and has found a literary agent. He said, “Through Redbud I also met some of my best writer friends.”
Redbud’s classes go beyond simple craft instruction: for example, Dasia Moore, a local Black poet, journalist, and writer has taught classes like “Writing the South” and “No Room for Fear”—the latter was a multi-genre class that focused on strategies for sustaining a writing life in today’s climate of personal and political turmoil. When asked about her experiences with Redbud, she said that it has helped her grow not only as a writer but, “I…get to grow as a neighbor. The range of talents, day jobs, perspectives, and backgrounds I encounter in Redbud classes has connected me with my community in ways I couldn’t have imagined.”
Redbud is currently gearing up for its biggest event of the year: a “Romantasy”-themed gala and fundraiser on September 19 at 6:30 p.m. at the Loading Dock–Beryl in Raleigh. As with all of their initiatives, the gala is hyper-local and grassroots: it’s sponsored by local bookstores, such as Golden Fig and Quail Ridge Books. The fundraiser will include food and drink from local businesses such as Spread NC and Trophy Brewing, music from musician Azul Zapata, magical decorations, fantastical-inflected readings by Redbud students, and an auction, with items donated by local craftspeople, authors, restaurants, and more. (Tickets are currently on sale.)
2023 Redbud Gala
“We’re throwing this gala so we can keep doing the work we do,” Cataneo said. To date, Redbud has offered dozens of free classes to under-represented and marginalized writers, including survivors of domestic violence; BIPOC writers; unhoused writers; low-income seniors citizens; writers in addiction recovery; writers seeking to set down their stories of reproductive justice; and more. One student from a class for survivors of DV, who goes by L, said, “This class changed my life.”
Learn more about Redbud on their website at redbudwriting.org, follow them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/redbudwriting and on Instagram at www.instagram.com/redbudwriting/
Learn more about the upcoming gala and fundraiser at www.redbudwriting.org/2025-fundraising-gala
Learn more about Redbud’s upcoming “Ask an Author Anything” Fundraiser for the Eno Arts Mill on October 18 at Flyleaf Books
(story and photos via Orange County Arts Commission)
Chapelboro.com has partnered with the Orange County Arts Commission to bring more arts-focused content to our readers through columns written by local people about some of the fantastic things happening in our local arts scene! Since 1985, the OCAC has worked to to promote and strengthen the artistic and cultural development of Orange County, North Carolina.
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