Writing Grief as Restorative Justice with The Rev. Cheryl A. Kirk-Duggan, Ph.D.

With life comes loss, death, and grief. Regardless of our myriad human differences across gender, sexual orientation, class, race, age, or ability, no one can avoid loss. Loss is the absence of something that occurs in many ways, including: the death of a loved one, job loss, divorce or bad breakup, loss of self from caregiving, loss of limbs/body functions, and loss of dreams.

When experiencing loss we often endure grief, where we can know keen mental suffering or distress over a loss or affliction—a sharp sorrow—a painful regret, guilt, distress, or unhappiness. Such an experience influences our total selves: mind, body, spirit, emotion, within a global world with many systemic challenges. Loss and grief provide opportunities to listen thoughtfully and respond in writing—memoirs, novels, poetry, songs, plays, essays, articles, and scripts (animated shorts to full-length comedies or dramas.)

This workshop invites persons with curiosity and a desire to grow through interdisciplinary, intergenerational, intersectional thinking and writing to explore grief as restorative justice. Bringing the communal and individual organic interests/experiences to a group setting, provides the space for self and/or others to mend and reinvent themselves to wholeness, peace, and well-being, following loss and grief.

The program will be held virtually on Monday, October 10 – Friday, October 14. The daily workshop schedule has yet to be determined, so for now, please plan on participating in full days and some evenings.

Due to the virtual nature of this workshop, participants may be eligible to receive a $500 Focus Fellowship. The Focus Fellowship is intended to allow participants to engage more deeply in the workshop.

Workshop Leader

 The Rev. Cheryl A. Kirk-Duggan, Ph.D. is a retired professor of Religion and director of Women’s Studies at Shaw University Divinity School, Raleigh, NC (2004-2021) and an ordained elder in the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church. She is a consultant, scholar, preacher, author, and performer – the founder and CEO for Dr. Cheryl Enterprises, where she focuses on grief journeys and writing excellence. She helps people embrace their authentic, sacred selves through love by helping them make peace with loss, grief, and trauma in their lives; and she helps people find joy and creativity through their writing. Author and editor of over 25 books and numerous articles, she is recipient of many awards, including Shaw University Outstanding Achievement Award as International Recognized Womanist Scholar, 2016 and in 2020, Kirk-Duggan appeared in “17 African American Women Theologians You Should Know About.” A great grandmother, family is central to her life. She loves to tinker with her roses, embraces laughter as her best medicine, and engages the quest for a healthy, holistic, spiritual life as her foundation, rooted in God/LOVE.

Application Process:

The application deadline for this workshop has passed.