I write fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction. My current project is a novel set in an unnamed Latin American country on the brink of civil war. A young migrant woman from a remote mountain village meets a university student who is volunteering for the burgeoning literacy campaign in the urban capital of Contravista. In spite of the great social and economic divide between them, they learn to rely on each other as they are swept up in the escalating conflict between the government and the rebel fighters. A journey of discovery and betrayal, longing and redemption, the story probes the big questions of liberation and destiny in a setting where traditional weapons used in armed conflict clash with courageous experiments in nonviolent resistance.

The novel is inspired by my work and travels in Mexico, Nicaragua, Cuba and Guatemala, and by my earlier professional careers in design and as a community organizer. I received my first graduate degree from the University of California, Berkeley in architecture, specializing in social and cultural issues in design.  My experiences teaching construction skills to women living in a war zone in Nicaragua, along with work in the U.S. researching affordable housing projects in developing countries, supervising a material assistance program for refugees and the homeless, developing popular education workshops for young people, and leading trainings in the history of nonviolent direct action, all come into play, along with my deep regard for the capacity of the human spirit to surmount the most difficult obstacles and endure.

After receiving my MFA in 2009 from Lesley University, I taught creative writing to undergraduates in the Writing, Literature and Publishing program at Emerson College; to high school students in the Urban Scholars Program at the University of Massachusetts and at Meridian Academy in Boston; and to adults as a Teaching Artist through various branches of the Boston Public Library funded by Lifetime Arts and the Boston Cultural Council, the Cary Memorial Library in Lexington, and the Brookline Center for Adult and Community Education.

I live in Jamaica Plain (a vibrant neighborhood of Boston) and coordinate the Flash Fiction Contest for JP Reads, a community-based initiative designed to engage the Jamaica Plain neighborhood to join together in reading a single book, and to present author readings, workshops, thematic events and shared discussions.

I was the Program Director and then a member of the Board for the Writers’ Room of Boston, New England’s only nonprofit urban writers’ colony for established and emerging writers, where I was also awarded the 2013 Ivan Gold Fellowship.  I previously worked for Oxfam America and the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), two international development organizations committed to humanitarian assistance, social justice and peace-building. While at AFSC, I supervised Critical Breakdown, an open mic venue where Boston’s young people explored themes of social activism, political awareness, and nonviolence using socially conscious performance art, including spoken word, poetry, hip hop, and dance. My interest in community activism first began when I served as a trainer in nonviolence and civil disobedience for the Clamshell Alliance. I re-emerged as a trainer during the post-9/11 protests against the Iraq War. I now apply my work in the nonprofit world and as a trainer to create unique writing workshops that explore issues and challenges facing communities today—from conflict to cooperation—using popular education training models, excerpts from literature, writing exercises and experiential group activities.

My novel-in-progress, and many of my short stories and essays, examine the movement from shame, displacement and loss toward healing, connection and community. I’m immensely grateful for the stories and insights I’ve gained from the wide array of people who have generously opened their doors and their hearts to me both at home and abroad.

For more information about my creative writing workshops and other services, please write to: debkacolson@gmail.com.