title: Through Your Own Words: 51 Writing Prompts for Healing and Self-Care
author:  Maisha Z Johnson 
description: <b>Maisha Z. Johnson</b> is a writer and creative facilitator living in Oakland, CA. Through writing workshops and arts and healing workshops, she lifts up voices of those who are often silenced, including LGBTQ people, people of color, and survivors of violence. Maisha is the author of the poetry book <i>No Parachutes to Carry Me Home</i> (Punk Hostage Press 2015) and of three chapbooks, <i>Queer As In</i> (Inkblot Arts 2014), <i>Uprooted</i> (Gorilla Press 2014), and <i>Split Ears</i> (Aggregate Space 2014). Maisha studied creative writing at San Francisco State University and earned her MFA in Poetry from Pacific University. Her work has won competitions including Literary Death Match, The Lit Slam, and Portuguese Artists Colony, been published in numerous journals, and been nominated twice for a Pushcart Prize. She has been a featured reader at literary events and social justice rallies throughout the Bay Area, and she blogs about the relationship between writing and social change.
zlib_text:  
  DE DIC ATION
  For C hristine Feehan.
  For always being there for me,
  and for being my B FF,
  and for not letting me stop.
  You are my sister of the heart.
  And for my husband, Kevin Wilson,
  who told me even when money was tight,
  “ To heck with a part- time job.
  Do what you’re good at:  write! ”
  
    
  AC KN OWLE DGME N TS
  Writing is a solitary process, but being a writer is not a solitary state.
  I owe an immeasurable debt of gratitude to the friends, family, and
  fans who have been and continue to be so supportive and
  encouraging. I especially want to thank the Starfish Club: Christine
  Feehan, Kathie Firzlaff, and Sheila English. Our brainstorming
  retreats are the highlights of my year. Special thanks to my very dear
  friend and power writing/ critique buddy, the supremely talented
  Karen Rose. Thanks also to my daughters, Ileah and Rhiannon
  Wilson, for beta reading my work in progress and telling me it was
  good.
  Special thanks to my editor, Tessa Woodward;  my agent, M
  ichelle
  Graj kowski;  an