Everbloom: Stories of Deeply Rooted and Transformed Lives

Writing can be a solitary business, but the women whose poems, essays, and stories are included in Everbloom: Stories of Deeply Rooted and Transformed Lives have found a way to combat the loneliness of writing while proving that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Everbloom was written by 42 of the approximately 150 women of the Red Bud Writers Guild, whose mission is to nurture “a community of Christian women who create rather than merely consume.” They maintain community through meetings, social media, and networking. Besides the support of like-minded souls, the guild provides tools for writers such as “manuscript and media mentoring and review, networking, writing conferences, blogging opportunities, resources, camaraderie and community.”

Margaret Philbrick, one of the editors of Everbloom, along with three of its contributors, recently led a webinar for PRC. Philbrick’s poem “We Write” is the Introduction to the book. Nilwona Nowlin read her contribution, the poem entitled “Where I’m From,” during the webinar and explained how it was born while she was doing a writing exercise during a retreat. Terri Kraus is a writer of fiction and the author of “My Nonna,” which tells the story of her grandmother who was born in Italy and immigrated to America. Terri also writes of her experience visiting the village where her grandmother grew up. Terri is the Red Bud Writers Guild President and spent some time during the webinar talking about the workings of the guild. Lara Krupicka described how she found her own voice in the essay “This Is What It Costs.” If you’d like to watch the recording of the webinar, you can click here to register.

There is a great variety in the various offerings in Everbloom from a woman contemplating how rearranging her kitchen is part of making her own choices to women dealing with rape, the suicide of a sibling, or the death of a baby in the womb. Yet, through all the experiences and difficulties that are faced, we see that God is there and that transformation is possible.

Each entry in the book is followed by a prayer and a writing prompt, so it can be used by individuals for devotional time or by groups who may choose to use the writing prompts as discussion questions. Everbloom is available from its publisher, Paraclete Press; it is also available from Amazon and other sellers.