A CALL TO ARMS

My name is Fred Poole. Most of my life I earned my living by writing. In 1993 I founded the Authentic Writing workshops, which are devoted to actual writing from actual life.

I was joined by my now wife, the writer Marta Szabo, and together we always have programs in progress in New York City and in Woodstock, NY, and we spread out to other places as near as New England and as far away as Italy.

Authentic Writing is a movement that celebrates and propagates writing as an art. In this movement, we war against mere criticism and safe academic writing systems.

Our allies are expansive artists who know that in order to practice their art they must go deep inside themselves. Sometimes these allies are other writers. Often they are actors and dancers,  painters, sculptors and photographers, musicians, singers and composers, people who work in film and video.

Together we have the courage to go after our own versions of reality in the face of pressure to follow false versions imposed and enforced by political or religious or military or literary and other art establishment dictators or by the cult of family.

Marta points out that we do not conduct writing classes. We manage a writers' studio. Much of what she does in this studio can be seen at MartaSzaboStories.blogspot.com. And much of what I do can be read right here in this new blog of my own - along with scenes and thoughts, including calls to arms, concerning our movement.