Writing Mentorship at Children’s Hospitals

During my MFA in New York, my PhD in Houston, & a bit in between, I worked with hospitalized children to help them write stories, poems, & essays. A lot of this was about helping kids process the challenges of living with illness, but it felt like I was also giving children with very little control over their lives access to worlds that were entirely their own. Supported by the Periwinkle Foundation, the Starworks Foundation, and WITS, I developed and hosted a writing TV show for the kids at Mt. Sinai Hospital in Manhattan, produced anthologies of art and writing at Mt. Sinai, St. Mary’s, and Texas Children’s, and organized performances by young writers for hospital staff, parents, and other children. If you can offer donations to any of these organizations, please do. Their work is invaluable.