Some of us write to process difficult times in our lives. Some of us write to help others out of difficulty. Some of us do the job of sending our characters to hell and back! In this interactive storytelling workshop, novelist/playwright/cartoonist/psychology writer Kristen Caven will teach four positive psychology principles of post-traumatic growth that will energize your writing, inspire your readers, and actually help you live longer (so you can finish all your work)! After this short presentation, writers will be able to discuss these activities in breakout groups and return for Q&A.

Kristen Caven is the author of Perfectly Revolting: My Glamorous Cartooning Career, The Reason She Left, and The Souls of Her Feet; and co-author of On the Wings of Self-Esteem, The Bullying Antidote, and the forthcoming 4th edition of The Winning Family: Where No One Has to Lose. She blogs nationally for ADDitude Magazine, and has spoken at AWP and the San Francisco Writers Conference. Locally, she’s been a featured presenter at StorySlam Oakland, Dirty Old Women, and Full of Crow, and her plays Be Mused and The Dirndl Diaspora both feature Oakland happenings. Kristen is also a CWC Jack London Award Winner and a certified Positive Psychology practitioner who teaches fitness, happiness, and nutrition at the Flab Lab Department of Vitality. She is the past president of the CWC Berkeley Branch and the current Writer in Residence at Joaquin Miller Park, where this event will be held. You can come up the the Park and join Kristen on a monthly writing retreat or drawing party for her forthcoming children’s book, “Joaquin Miller Went Walkin’”. Learn more at www.kristencaven.com.

Along with the “Sustainable Storytelling” Speaker Series led by Kristen Caven (available on Zoom), there will be an (optional) Earth Day Event, Bring Your Own Basket of Chow, “Joaquin Miller Went Walkin'” Drawing Party, and “A Breath of Fresh Air” open mic if you attend in-person at Joaquin Miller Park.