Charis Circle Programs and Events
February 2010

Faiths and Feminisms Reimagining Session
Monday, Feb. 1, 7-8:30pm

Please join us for a brainstorming session about the future of our Faiths and Feminisms group. Even if you have never previously attended the group you are invited to join us in reimagining what kind of discussion group we might want in 2010. We are open to all ideas including moving away from a book-centered format to a more discussion based style or anything else you can imagine. We look forward to making a great series even better in 2010!

"Voice Beyond Choice" An Evening With Feminist Women's Health Center
Thursday, Feb. 4, 7-9pm

Join the Feminist Women's Health Center for a discussion about expanding existing visions of reproductive justice through broader human rights advocacy training. Refreshments will be provided.
For more information please contact FWHC at
(404) 248-5445 or email nextwave@feministcenter.org
www.feministcenter.org

Writing With Intent
Monday, Feb. 8th and 22nd, 6:30-8:30pm

This facilitated group is open to all writers of fiction and creative non-fiction who want a serious group to provide constructive criticism, motivational exercises, and interpersonal accountability to keep their writing on track. We do monthly exercises and critiques with an eye towards individual improvement and the eventual goal of publication. Writers are encouraged to bring copies of their work to share for critique. Please direct inquiries to elizabeth@chariscircle.org

Evelyn Coleman: Writing Georgia Fiction, Writing Georgia History Thursday, Feb. 11th, 7:30-9pm

Join us for an exciting night with award-winning author Evelyn Coleman as she discusses her experience researching the history of Atlanta's Cabbagetown neighborhood for her novel: Freedom Train. Freedom Train is based on the true story of the 1947 train which traveled the country displaying the Declaration of Independence and a boy from Cabbagetown whose life is changed by the racial injustice he witnesses when the train arrives in Atlanta. Don't miss this informative and fun discussion of Atlanta history and the creative process.

*** Canceled Due to Weather ***

Cliterally Speaking: Valentine's Bliss with Diana Cage Friday, Feb. 12th, 8-9:30pm

Join us for a sexy, fun and funny talk about female sexuality with former On Our Backs editor, author, and sex educator Diana Cage. Drawing from her forthcoming book, A Woman's Guide to Sexual Ecstasy, Diana will take us on a tour of the female body, offering tips and tricks to help you turn up the heat on Valentine's Day. After the talk, you'll have a chance to munch on scrumptious desserts and write anonymous questions on index cards for an anything goes Q&A.

Cliterati featuring "Women of the World Poetry Slam" Competitors Thursday, Feb. 18th, 7:30-9pm

Charis & Cliterati pair up to present an inviting and fierce open mic & reading series on the 3rd Thursday of every month. Hosted by the anarchic spoken wordteam of Karen G and Theresa Davis, members of the Art Amok Slam Team, this series cultivates the voices of authors, novices and an assortment of poets, songstresses and story tellers. Join us as we feature competitors in the "Women of the World Poetry Slam" including: Karen G., Theresa Davis, Chauncey Beaty, April Smith, Spenecia Fleming & more! Atlanta is definitely Hotlanta when it comes to women & poetry!

Akoma Book Club
Saturday, Feb. 20th, 10:30am-12:00pm

The Akoma Book Club (of Women Healing Women) meets at Charis Books & More on the third Saturday of each month. This book club is open to any woman seeking camaraderie with like-minded women for fun, self-empowerment and growth. Even if you haven't read the book, but are willing to talk about the principles in the book, you can join us for a lively discussion. February's book pick is: The Five Things We Cannot Change and the Happiness We Find by Embracing Them by David Richo. In it Richo shows us that by dropping our deep-seated resistance to the five "givens", we can find liberation and discover the true richness that life has to offer.

Queer Literary Fiction Book Group Wednesday, Feb. 24th, 7-8:30pm

This facilitated book group
discusses books which feature queer characters/ storylines as well as a strong attention to literary craft and style. February's book, The Sweet In-Between by Sheri Reynold, is the story of butch/genderqueer Kenny Lugo who has grown up in a family that's not really hers. Now, as Kenny approaches her eighteenth birthday and the end of the government checks looms, she is desperate to prove that this house and these people really do belong to her. But when a senseless murder occurs next door in their small coastal town, Kenny can't get it out of her mind. She has always been consumed by the ways in which she is different-and inherently unworthy-so the unjust death of a young woman with everything to live for becomes an obsession.

Compassionate Communication in Times of Violence Thursday, Feb. 25th, 7:30-9pm

Join us for this very special workshop with Adam Brush which is designed to help us all communicate better in our personal, professional, and activist lives. Adam will lead us in fun and practical exercises which will help us recognize violent communication patterns as they occur and help us be cognizant of the individual choices we have in responding to violent communication, be it interpersonally or in the world at large. The Nonviolent Communication practice that Adam will share with us is modeled after the methods in the book: Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life by Marshall Rosenberg.