Transform Your Grief With Pen and Paper…

You can have a different experience with your memories -- a new relationship with your grief. How? By sitting down, turning to a blank page, taking a pen, and writing…

Explore your grief in this 30-day writing course. Look at it, feel it, honor it in ways maybe you haven't before. You’ll experience your grief through storytelling, through nature, even through fairy tales. People have said through writing with us, they can set their grief down. Come play with us in a safe container to look at your grief through new lenses.
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What You Get When You Enroll

30 days of grief writing (October 1-30). For any level of writer and any grief story: losing a loved one, losing a job, sickness, or anything else. Grief touches everything in all shapes and sizes. Any human who has loved and lost anyone or anything has a grief story. Whether big or small. Come write with us.

  • Weekday writing prompts and exercises in our private learning portal to guide you on your journey

  • 8 live zoom sessions throughout the month (two each week). Sessions include meditation, writing prompts, time to write, and share your writing with the group if you like (this is our favorite part! :)

  • The opportunity to have a new experience with your grief and develop or bolster your writing practice (or journaling habit)

  • Group learning and new connections. There's magic in the group shares.

Course starts October 1

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Get To Know Us

Anne Gudger and Maria Gibson are a mom/daughter team who created Coffee and Grief during the beginning of the pandemic. We want to give voice to grief. Anne was widowed at 28 when she was pregnant with Maria's older brother. Maria grew up in a home where grief was talked about around the dinner table. Over the past 30 years both women have taught, written, and explored the range of grief from sorrow to joy. 

They host a monthly reading series and have witnessed over 250 people's grief stories. They host a podcast GRIEF AND GRATITUDE, and have held this 30 day group multiple times in the past 3 years.

Anne is an award winning author and recovering English teacher. Strangers often stop her on the street to tell her their grief story.
 

What People Are Saying!

"I’ve always been very private with my writing, my thoughts. Yet with the relationship I have with Annie and Maria, I intuitively knew I am in good hands and I am in a safe space. This is the first time I’ve written this way. The daily prompts that they send sparked what’s been inside desperately wanting to come out and flow through me. Inspired by the other participants in the group...

I was able to drop my guard and fully embrace a part of me that’s been hidden all this time.

This experience has been filled with laughter, joy, fulfillment and a few cleansing tears. I promise you will see yourself in a whole new light and you’ll want to come back for more!"

- Jenny Purplelicious - Vancouver, BC



"Spending the month writing with Annie and Maria not only helped me develop a daily writing practice, it also connected me with a community of other people exploring their grief.

The prompts were inspiring and original, as were practices, such as short meditations and pre-writing rituals they incorporated into each meeting.

I loved the balance of time to write alone, in community, and sharing our work."

- Monica Welty - Portland, OR



"I was able to truly deepen my experience of writing and remembering through the prompts and zoom calls with Annie and Maria during the 30 day " Write your Grief Out" class. I was amazed at how alive my memories began to appear as I committed to writing everyday. I see how my undigested grief was keeping me frozen in my current life and how writing with their fabulous prompts helped me to digest a huge loss of a beloved.

I feel more present in my life and integrated with who I was and am now becoming because of this work.

The Zoom room helped me feel connected to others who were also grieving, lessening the feeling of isolation that grief often brings. I feel connected to my humanity and have a deeper compassion for my own experience as well as others who have loved deeply and have faced loss. Mahalo Annie and Maria for your loving presence! You bring a much needed medicine to this world!" 

- Kauakea Winston - Hawaii

FAQ

  • Who is this for? Is this just for writers?

    This is for anyone who's experienced grief and wants to change their relationship with it. Writers are welcome, but so is everyone else. If you're ready and willing for growth and healing, come write with us.

  • What time are the zoom calls? What if I miss a call?

    The zoom calls are Wednesdays (October 2, 9, 16, 23) at 7 PM Pacific and Saturdays (October 5, 12, 19, 26) at 10 AM Pacific. They will be recorded and you can watch them later if you miss it. (But do your best to make them live!)

  • What do I need to bring?

    Whatever you are comfortable writing with: pen and paper or a laptop. Bring your open mind and open heart.

  • How much time should I plan for?

    We encourage you to freewrite for 15 minutes per day. The Zoom calls last 1 hour to 90 minutes. It's up to you how much you want to write. If you miss a day, it's ok. Just keep going.

  • Will I get feedback on my writing?

    Not in this course. This is different from a typical writing workshop. Here, what you write is for you and your transformation. We are honored to witness your words during the zoom calls if you choose to share them.

  • What if I don't want to share my writing?

    It's okay if you don't want to share. We understand you may be exploring sensitive, personal, and challenging issues and there may be things you are not comfortable sharing here. It's up to you what you choose to share.

  • How do I get ahold of you if I have more questions?

    Find us on Facebook at Coffee and Grief or you can email us at [email protected]