In this season finale episode, host Joy Notoma speaks with fiction writer, poet, and essayist, Sonia Alejandra Rodríguez, about the ins and outs of writing about traumatic life experiences.

Have you ever heard phrases like "Start where it hurts" or "Go where the wound is" or any other sentiment that implies that pain is valuable to the making of art? This discussion takes the idea behind those statements a step further. Once we've started writing from the wound, how do we care for ourselves to make sure that we're not just bleeding on the page?

We explore:

1. How the revision process can ensure that you’re writing with care and not “re-traumazing” yourself.
2. How historical fiction can help you reimagine the future
3. What young adult literature can teach us about voice, character, and plot
4. How to incorporate moments of joy even if the story is rooted in trauma
5. How to show empathy for loved ones whose personal lives may be a part of the story you’re telling

Querida by Sonia Alejandra Rodríguez

Roxane Gay addresses difficulty of writing about trauma

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros

Heavy: An American Memoir by Kiese Laymon

Body Work: The Radical Power of Personal Narrative by Melissa Febos

Roots.Wounds.Words.

Follow Sonia on social media at @RodriguezSoniaA.

Thank you to participants Monika Gupta, Hazel Pritchard, and Kat. Special thanks to the one and only Mat "Mat Mat" Poirot for editing and production help and our lovely logo design.