InspiringWomen_Summer2024

INSPIRING
WOMEN
Women
working
with
Words
May 2024 Volume 8 Issue 2

Contents
May 2024, Volume 8, Issue 2
profiles
86
92
8
How to Write Sixteen
Books ...
and Counting
New York Times best-selling
author Meg Gardiner tells
us about her writing
process, the secret to
keeping characters interesting across multiple
series and her surprising path to publication.
40
Writing Historical
Fiction
Lisa Medved has been a
globetrotter since childhood,
navigating cultures and
continents. She shares with
us the path to publication
of her first novel,
The Engraver’s Secret.
From Shy Girl to
Prolific Creative
Writer
Marjorie (Margie) Kanter
tells us how she became
a hybrid writer of short
literary pieces based on
real life.
Fostering Writers
Through Creative
Writing Practice
Molly Moylan Brown
offers bespoke writing
workshops to writers of
all ages.
features
12
Putting Words
in Music
Beth Blatt wrote the
UN anthem One Woman
sung every year on
International Women’s
Day. She shares with us
her love for musicals,
the inspiration behind
her latest theatrical project and the
challenge of working on stage.
24
A Life Built on Books
Tonia Arahova tells us
about how books edified
her youth, a serendipitous
start at The National Library
of Greece that lasted decades and the legacy
libraries she established in honor of her parents.
46
A Family Foundation
Champions
Aspiring Authors
Clydette de Groot
co-directs The de Groot Foundation. She
explains to us what led to its creation, her life
journey and the joys of helping writers thrive.
64
Knowing What to
Write & How to
Write It
Nicole Gallicchio is an
academic editor who helps
postgraduate students
make their dissertations
and theses shine.
21
37
We All Rise
Peju “The Spark” Abuchi is
a poet, inspirational speaker
and educator. She shares
with us her poem We All Rise.
Seize Every
Opportunity as They
Come Along
Veteran journalist Alison
Smale's experiences at pivot
points in history are explored
in this riveting interview by
Teddie Weyr.
75
Literacy is
Our Legacy –
A Celebration
FAWCO is flush with writers and this initiative
looks to highlight them while also connecting
them to each other and the FAWCO community
through a series of literary activities.
79
Inspiring Reads:
Meet the Authors!
For this issue of Inspiring
Women, we are featuring
a small sampling of the
member books on offer.
Enjoy!
30
Writing an
Inspiring
Children’s Book
Sotia Kythreoti was
born with an
invisible disability.
She conveys her journey of resilience, her
love of travel and the valuable lessons she
garnered in I’m the Warrior of the Book.
70 55
99
No Nicer Community
on the Planet!
Catherine Pettersson,
founder of the Stockholm
Writers Festival, tells the
background story of her
historical novel’s heroine
and extolls the benefits of a
writing community.
A Club Inspires:
Madrid
Curran McClure Reid,
AWC Madrid president,
takes us on a tour of
her dynamic club and
introduces us to the culinary, historical and
sightseeing wonders of Madrid and Spain.
Being a Word Nerd
Tiffany Davenport shares
insights into her career as a
copywriter and translator in
the Netherlands.
2 INSPIRING WOMEN INSPIRING WOMEN 3

5
6
in every issue
A Note from the Editor
Advertisers Index
102
103
Our Next Issue
Inspiring You
“Words to me were magic. You
could say a word and it could conjure up
all kinds of images or feelings or a chilly
sensation or whatever. It was amazing
to me that words had this power."
– Amy Tan
a note from
the editor
7 Introducing This Issue 104 More About This Issue
Inspiring Women Magazine: Through My Lens
We are looking for your photos of friends, family or yourself that you think embody the next
issue's theme of "Entrepreneurial Women."
Photos should be in color and a minimum of 300 dpi. Send your photo with your name, FAWCO
club and a maximum 50-word caption explaining why the photo fits the theme to:
iw.features@fawco.org
105
photo feature
The deadline for submitting photos for our next
issue is ...
Wednesday, May 29, 2024
That’s Inspired!
I love words. I am an avid reader – on
average completing over 50 books each year.
I have always enjoyed writing. My words first
appeared in print sometime in the 70s thanks
to a kind woman at our church who ran a
feature showcasing children’s writing in the
city’s newspaper. Somewhere, in a tub in our
garage, are a few surviving short stories and
poems from my youth. In university, I worked
for a librarian proofreading an academic
book she was writing. It wasn’t very
interesting work, but I learned valuable skills I
carried with me through my professional and
volunteer roles. Over the years, I moved away
from writing for pleasure. Attempts to keep a
diary or journal usually only lasted for a page
or two. I tried a blog about my travels. That
lasted about a month. In the 90s, as president
of AWC Amsterdam, my thoughts were
preserved in their monthly Tulip Talk
newsletter and I am sure there are a few
things in print from my time as president of
The FAWCO Foundation, but that’s about it.
Now, I have the honor to write to all of you
on a regular basis, introducing each issue of
Inspiring Women.
This issue was initially conceived from a
discussion about the many book groups
hosted by FAWCO, FAUSA and FAWCO
member clubs. We then moved on to
consider the many members we knew were
writers. We also thought we were probably
just scratching the surface of the topic. With
the theme Women Working With Words, we
wanted to explore the world of FAWCO
women who dedicate their lives to words.
We hoped to find a selection of women that
would include writers, poets, editors,
educators, publishers and more. We were
not disappointed. As the nominations for
potential women to profile for this issue
flowed in, we were thrilled to see not just
the quantity but the diverse nature of the
nominations. In fact, we had so many
6/7 th of the talented Inspiring Women team
nominations, we could not fit them all in this
issue. Keep your eyes open in 2025 for Women
Working With Words - Part 2!
Inspiring Women has a talented team of
volunteer women who work very hard to
produce each issue of the magazine. Except for
our immensely talented Layout Editor Kristin
Haanæs (who unfortunately could not join us),
the entire Inspiring Women management team
attended the 2024 FAWCO Interim Meeting in
Porto. It’s not often virtual teams can gather in
person, so it was wonderful to meet and have
lunch together. We even managed to get a photo!
We also have an amazing team of proofreaders
supporting the magazine behind the scenes.
You can always find who worked on each issue
on the Acknowledgements page at the end of
the magazine. I thank all the team members
for their contributions to the production of
Inspiring Women.
I hope you enjoy reading the following profiles
and features as much as we have enjoyed
learning about the women and their journeys
while preparing this issue.
Best wishes!
Michele
iw.editor@fawco.org
4 INSPIRING WOMEN INSPIRING WOMEN 5

advertisers
index
introducing
this issue
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The paper sits, waits,
Dark lead pours out five letters;
A word becomes me.
Long before I wrote any prose, poetry or book reports, the very first words I had to
deal with were the ones in my name. The teacher made us write our names in the
upper right hand corner. With practice, “Elsie” came out big and proud. “McGarvey,”
my last name with its two capital letters surrounding the small underscored “c,” got so
scrunched that the “v-e-y” ran up the margin. And my mother at some point decided I
had to use my middle name - Elsie Ann McGarvey. So my name started at the middle of
the page to accommodate all these requirements, which resulted in a red circle around
it on nearly every assignment, visits to my teacher from my dad and early eye-rolling
from me. I often wonder why, after all that, I enjoyed writing at all.
Dear diary, let’s play!
We’re pretty and we’re famous.
Write it, then leave it.
In our youth we find it much easier to write about our feelings than saying them out
loud. Notes written to our crushes seemed the more sincere way of expressing how we
felt instead of saying how we felt directly to them. As we progressed through school,
we learned how to write using different genres. Whether it was short stories in the first
person or in the third, poetry or essays, they all helped to form us.
She writes her truth
Living with joy full-throttle!
The girl came to slay …
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The Pajama Company p. 53
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with the promo code AWCO10.
Throughout the years FAWCO has relied on advertisers and sponsors to augment its income.
This revenue has allowed FAWCO to improve services and gives it the flexibility to try the latest
innovations to enhance the FAWCO experience. FAWCO’s advertising partners believe in our
mission and support our goals; some advertisers also directly support our activities and projects.
We encourage club leadership throughout the FAWCO network to
share our publications with their membership. Our advertising
partners have valuable products and services and we want your
members to take advantage of what they offer. Please support them!
For more information on these advertisers or if you have any questions
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There comes a time when, if we are lucky, we find power in words. The essay for our
university applications gets us into our first choice school; the perfect framing of life
experiences in a CV clinches us our first real job.The vows we write for our wedding
days make us feel euphoric, the pain released from a eulogy, cathartic. Our life’s path
is paved with words.
Deadline looms tonight!
I weave the last words in place;
Champagne is opened.
This issue has been one of the most uplifting of all our issues. The response has
been extraordinary. We have great profiles and features about writers from so many
different genres. We also focused on those who support the writing community:
mentoring, teaching and investing in the work and craft of aspiring writers. Their
stories are a testament to creativity, perseverance, tenacity and risk. It is a great
pleasure to introduce you to them and their work.
Elsie
Founder
6 INSPIRING WOMEN INSPIRING WOMEN 7

profile
How to Write Sixteen
Books ... and Counting
New York Times best-selling author Meg Gardiner, FAUSA, tells us about
her writing process, the secret to keeping characters interesting across
multiple series and her surprising path to publication.
Igrew up in Santa Barbara, California, between
the ocean and mountains, where I had the
freedom to roam and imagine a world of
adventure. I attended college and law school at
Stanford, then practiced law in Los Angeles and
taught legal writing at the University of California
Santa Barbara. I was a California girl until my
husband, our three children and I moved to the
UK. We lived in Surrey, southwest London,
planning to stay for a short work assignment which
in the end lasted nineteen years. Along the way, I
took a leap and started writing novels, which had
been my dream since childhood. My first book
was published in 2002, and I’ve been writing full
time ever since. My husband and I now live in
Austin, with our grown kids scattered across the
United States.
Which books did you read as a child?
From the time I was little, stories took me away
into worlds of possibility, imagination, suspense,
terror, joy and thrills. I loved Madeleine L’Engle,
Nancy Drew, The Black Stallion and later the
science fiction of Ray Bradbury. My father was a
professor of English literature, so books, epics,
mythologies, storytelling, poetry and the glory of
language were what we breathed growing up.
Meg Gardiner
How did you learn and develop
your craft?
I developed my craft by doing. I
wrote for the high school paper.
Meg holding her
Edgar Award for
China Lake
8 INSPIRING WOMEN INSPIRING WOMEN 9

I (secretly!) wrote a novel at sixteen. It was a
love story set at the Indianapolis 500 and was
absolutely terrible, but I finished it. All 65 pages
of it. In college, law school and as a practicing
attorney, writing was a constant. But I taught
myself to write novels. It’s a discipline and
(sometimes, if you do it right) an art. I read. And
read. And read. I attended seminars on the craft
of writing fiction. I attempted to write a thriller
when my daughter was a baby, which tells you
how naïve I was. I tossed that out, started again,
finally finished a manuscript, and got a literary
agent. That first novel didn’t sell. But the next
one, China Lake, did.
Was it easy finding a publisher?
If you want to be traditionally published, you
need to steel yourself for rejection. My first
novel didn’t sell. My next one did – in the UK,
and around the world in translation, but not in
the United States. Initially, every American
publisher rejected China Lake. Then they
rejected the next four books in the Evan
Delaney series as well. It was disheartening.
My story – call it my publishing journey if you
want to – is not out of the ordinary. I tried, and
failed, and tried again, and failed again. I finally
realized that I had to up my game tremendously,
to learn how to clear the bar with room to spare,
if I ever wanted to be published. China Lake was
an order of magnitude better than anything I’d
written before. It had to be.
Then serendipity intervened. Stephen King
picked up a British edition of China Lake and
loved it. He encouraged his readers to find my
novels. He wrote a column in Entertainment
Weekly telling everyone to seek out my work. 48
hours after that column was published, fourteen
American publishers had changed their mind
about my work, and gotten in touch. I soon
signed a publishing deal with Penguin.
Imagine that.
Below: with a plaque celebrating HEAT 2 debuting at #1
on the New York Times bestseller list
Since then, I’ve written twelve more novels.
It’s still work – work I love. I’ve had some
wonderful moments. China Lake won an
Edgar Award. My books have been summer
reading picks by the Today Show and O, The
Oprah Magazine. I’m a two-time president of
Mystery Writers of America. And in 2022, Heat 2
debuted at #1 on the New York Times best
seller list. What a life!
Tell us about your writing process.
I’ve now published 16 novels, including Heat 2,
which I co-wrote with Michael Mann. My
seventeenth, Shadowheart, will be published
in June. I’ve learned that I work best when I
brainstorm and outline a novel before launching
into the first draft. I learned that the hard way,
by simply diving in, flailing around and sinking
hopelessly into the muck. A novel is a big
project, and knowing who the characters are,
what the conflict and the stakes are and how the
story will build to a surprising, satisfying ending,
takes thought.
It usually takes a year, if not more. Researching,
outlining, bouncing ideas off my agent and
editor. Rethinking, deepening my ideas,
stretching the story to reach every height and
depth possible, upping the suspense and
tension, putting characters through hell and
seeing how they respond. Lord, I love writing.
How do you keep a recurrent character fresh
and alive over several sequels?
I’ve written three series and several stand-alone
novels. Each has its pleasures and challenges.
When writing a series character, you have to
keep the core of what makes them who they
are while stretching in new directions with each
novel. To keep recurrent characters fresh, it’s
important to find new challenges for them in
each novel. A new investigation. A new challenge
for their family. A change in their world – but not
too radical. It’s a balancing act.
How do you know when you’re done with one
book and ready to start the next?
I’m done when the book goes to the printer and
the publisher tells me to get my grubby mitts off
the manuscript because it’s too late to make any
more edits.
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10 INSPIRING WOMEN INSPIRING WOMEN 11

profile
Putting Words in Music
Beth Blatt, AAWE Paris, wrote the UN anthem One Woman, sung every year
on International Women’s Day. She shares with us her love for musicals, the
inspiration behind her latest theatrical project and the challenge of working
on stage.
I
grew up in a suburb north of Chicago. I was
blessed to have two supportive and educated
parents. My mother was in the vanguard – the
only woman in her class at Northwestern Law
School. I went to a small private elementary school
that was rather unusual. I started studying French
in first grade (age six). In fourth grade, we wrote a
musical. I never imagined that's what I'd be doing
20 years later. In eighth grade, I had the lead in the
school play, where my acting “career” began.
I loved school and school loved me. Curiosity and
pleasure in learning guide me still. When I left
my small private school and entered a big public
high school where I knew no one, I learned other
valuable skills: how to turn strangers into friends,
identifying what lights you up and how to find
your place.
I left home to go to college at Dartmouth, where
I majored in French and German. I lived abroad
twice in four years and taught students both
languages. But I didn’t want to teach, so I snagged
a job after graduation at one of the best advertising
agencies in the world, but I soon realized it wasn’t
for me. I quit to sing and dance in musicals – which
I did successfully for the next 10 years.
My last theater job took me to
Japan. I went for five weeks ...
Beth in her
Beth Blatt
and ended up staying for three
one-woman
years! Opportunities abounded.
play about
A renowned composer asked me Marie-Thérèse
to write lyrics for his music. When at the Chapelle
Expiatoire in
12 INSPIRING WOMEN INSPIRING WOMEN
Paris
13

Previous page: at New Trier East HS in Illinois, playing
Gooch to Mary Claire Collins's Mame
Right: on The Golden Odyssey cruise ship - volume was
never a problem!
Every day, I’m grateful that I love to learn. My
writing is often inspired by history, so I do a
huge amount of research. I also try to “consume”
the work of other writers – watch and read
plays, analyze movies, listen to music, play with
poetry and write parody lyrics for fun.
What are the greatest challenges in your
chosen field?
Challenge Number One: keeping going.
I’m often the only one in the room with my
work. No boss telling me what to do. So I’ve
started two accountability groups, women
who meet each week to keep us on track with
our goals and cheerlead each other.
I returned to New York, I made the pivot from
actress to writer.
I loved writing musicals and it went well. But
I wanted something more international and
impact-minded, so I founded my music-forbenefit
business, Hope Sings. We create songs
inspired by true, uplifting stories of women and
the causes/charities that support them.
Tell us about your current life and family.
I met my husband in Paris and, within six
months, he moved to New York. A year later, we
were married. In July 2022, he was transferred
to Paris for work and I finally got a chance to live
in France, after the brief nibbles I had in college
and afterwards for family vacations.
After a year in Paris, we moved south to Antibes,
where my husband was born and raised. Gosh,
it’s gorgeous! I do love my trips back to Paris,
which I try to do every month or so.
I’m so inspired by France! Since I arrived, I’ve
been dramatizing the lives of “forgotten women
of France," those overlooked or maligned by
history. I’ve written and performed site-specific
pieces in Paris and La Napoule.
We have a son, 24, who went to school in
Montana and continues to work there. He is
bilingual, so we hope he might decide to work
over here one day.
How did you learn and develop your craft?
When I returned to New York from Hong Kong
(I did a brief stint there after Tokyo), I decided to
write musicals rather than acting in them (doing
eight shows a week can get old). I was thrilled
to be accepted into the BMI Musical Theatre
Workshop, the premier training ground for
musical theater writers. Every week for two
years, I learned the craft. For free!
From there, I kept going. I received wonderful
development opportunities – residencies,
grants, fellowships – and productions of my
shows. The musical theater world seemed pretty
small then and very supportive. We were taught
“a rising tide lifts all boats.” One person’s
success is everybody’s success, because hits
convince producers to keep producing.
Challenge Number Two: the economics.
Theater gets more and more expensive to
produce – which means more "money people"
are needed and they all get a vote. So it takes
longer to get a show on, and it gets watered
down in the process. The unique spark of the
show – and the writers – gets dimmed. The
music field gets more and more competitive,
there are now so few barriers to entry.
Challenge Number Three: This one is perhaps
very personal: I have too many ideas! And
they’re all good ones! (At least, I think so.) So
I’m working on what may be too many projects
at once. But I have systems to make sure I keep
all the plates spinning.
What are the highlights and most rewarding
moments of your career?
I had a tiny spark of a big idea (sometimes an
idea just – appears) and made it happen:
One afternoon on a playground in NYC, I
heard a mom talking about the formation of
UN Women. And it popped out of me: “They
need a theme song."
After nine months of writing, networking,
cajoling and praying, I made it happen, they had
a song. Sometimes you have to take big leaps.
I persuaded the head of UN Women
communications not to say “no.” I reached out
to a composer I barely knew, Graham Lyle (hits
like What’s Love Got To Do With It, etc.). He liked
the idea, liked my lyrics – and in a few weeks, we
had a song, One Woman.
At times, you work like a mad-person with no
guarantee it will happen. I wanted the song
recorded, so I worked nonstop for two years.
We assembled a cast of 25+ internationally
acclaimed artists - Bebel Gilberto, Anoushka
Shankar, Angelique Kidjo - and had a record.
We had a recording. We released it on
International Women’s Day.
One Woman became the finale for the launch
ceremony at the UN in New York. On that day,
Secretary-General Ban-KI Moon finished his
speech with my lyric. Then he shook my hand.
Every year since, groups perform the song on
International Women’s Day (March 8) at the UN
and beyond.
That was probably the highlight. So far.
14 INSPIRING WOMEN INSPIRING WOMEN 15

Runner-up:
Researching, writing and performing a onewoman
show in Paris within nine months of
arriving. Perfect example of beginner's mind:
not knowing enough to know what you can’t do.
I fell in love with a story, talked my way into a
performance at a French national monument,
did tons of research (in French!), wrote it, got an
audience to come and performed it. Whee! So
much fun.
Tell us about your new play “Forgotten
Women of France.”
Forgotten Women of France is more a project
than one play.
My first play Forgotten Woman was inspired
by Marie-Thérèse, daughter of Louis XVI and
Marie-Antoinette – who actually survived the
Terror and was declared “Queen of France and
Navarre” by the legitimist clan in 1836. I wrote
and performed that play at the Paris memorial
she built to her parents, La Chapelle Expiatoire.
I’ve just finished a month-long artists’ residency
at le Château de La Napoule, where I dramatized
the little-known story of the American couple
who turned it into a fantastical retreat for the
husband, an artist. I performed it on the last day
and hope to develop it further into une visite
théâtralisée – a combination play/guided tour.
This one has songs.
I have a long list of other women calling out to
me – to bring their stories to light and inspire
us all.
How does writing plays compare to
writing songs?
Songs are very condensed, so they’re easier
to structure. I usually write lyrics; every word
counts and you can agonize over every syllable.
Plays are more conversational; characters talk
at greater length so you have to really plan
the architecture.
I tend to write from character,
so both my songs and plays start
with who that person is, what they
want, why they’re talking/singing,
their vocabulary. If I’m writing a
stand-alone song – not from a
musical – anything can inspire me.
Songs are recorded so easier to
share – which gives me joy, pride
and connection.
Plays only “live” when they’re being
performed (though I do videotape
and post monologues). So you’re
more dependent on live
performance to feel that zing.
Supporting FAWCO
I’ve focused on using what I do –
writing musicals, songs and plays
– to support FAWCO.
For Orange Day (the UN Day for
the Elimination of Violence Against
Women), I connected with FAWCO
members who work with the UN.
I made the UN Women anthem
available, engaged with social
media and shared stories that
I dramatized about women in
France and the challenges they
face. I look forward to finding
more ways to partner with FAWCO.
Previous page:
at the UN, NYC, Secretary
General of the UN Ban-Ki
Moon thanks Beth for her
work creating the women's
anthem for the UN
This page, top to bottom:
with son André in Cabo San
Lucas; backstage at the UN
with Graham Lyle and Fahan
Hassan, co-composers, for
the premier of the anthem
One Woman; with husband
Michel Orengo at the
Grammy Awards at the
Staples Center, Los Angeles
16 INSPIRING WOMEN INSPIRING WOMEN 17

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18 INSPIRING WOMEN INSPIRING WOMEN 19

feature
Seize Every Opportunity
as They Come Along
Alison Smale interviewed by fellow
AWA Vienna member, Teddie Weyr.
Alison's longtime friend Teddie Weyr interviewed
Alison for this feature. Alison hired Teddie at the
AP office in Vienna as a novice with very little
journalistic experience and became an important
mentor, giving her high-profile opportunities that
allowed her to shine and hone her own craft. Both
Teddie and Alison are members of AWA Vienna.
Where did you grow up and how did you become interested in journalism?
I grew up in a suburb of London, did well at school and discovered the power
of words as I learned first French and then German, graduating from Bristol
University with a degree in German and political science. Languages were to prove
my ticket out of the suburbs via a scholarship from Stanford University in 1977 for
a master’s in journalism. Stanford opened the door to a much more open life than
I would have had, had I remained in England.
Alison as the
keynote speaker at
at the FAWCO
Biennial Conference
in Bratislava
20 INSPIRING WOMEN INSPIRING WOMEN 21

How did you get your start in journalism?
I had very good teachers in the German
language, which led to my first job with United
Press International, then still a competitive force
against The Associated Press (the other top US
news agency of the time). As bureau chief in
Bonn, then the capital of West Germany, I
accumulated a lot of experience that is rarely
available to such a young journalist. I had
exposure to veteran journalists like John Vinocur
of The New York Times, and I was mentored by
two great AP bureau chiefs, Larry Heinzerling
and Steve Miller, who each ran AP Central and
East European operations from Frankfurt. Larry’s
book Newshawks, set in Berlin and detailing the
challenges the AP faced in Nazi Germany, was
published posthumously this year by Columbia
University Press. My own path led to almost 20
years with the AP and roughly 20 more with
The New York Times, including nine years as
executive editor of The International Herald
Tribune. I was the first and only woman to have
held this position.
From top to bottom:
with husband, Sergei Dreznin,
and daughter, Lucy; in 1992
celebrating landmark years
of service at the AP with
long-time AP Vienna reporter
Roland Prinz (right) and AP
Frankfurt Bureau Chief
Stephen H. Miller (left), her
then supervisor and mentor
What drew you to Journalism?
The prospect of widespread travel and
discovering the world through exposure to
different political, social and economic forces.
I was particularly drawn to the forces that were
then locked in a Cold War clash between the two
superpowers. Ultimately, that clash led to the
fall of the Berlin Wall, which I witnessed on the
unforgettable night of November 9, 1989, in
Berlin. We all thought then that the East-West
confrontation was now over, and a bright new
future beckoned for all former adversaries. That
turned out to be an overly optimistic mistake.
The journey out of the Cold War was massively
influenced by powerful people and ideas that
vanquished the brute force of Communist
ideology. Vaclav Havel, a Czech playwright
turned philosopher and, yes, politician, was one
grand example of how the power of words can
change history. In several meetings I had with
Havel, it became clear that he had an
important voice and his own ideas about how to
run a democratic society. I was privileged to call
him a friend.
The illusion that the power of words could
conquer the threat of weapons of mass
destruction rapidly unraveled.
What is the state of language today?
The newest challenge to language today is the
emergence of artificial intelligence. Like any
other invention, AI can be a force for good or
not so good, depending on who’s in charge of
this exciting new technology.
How have you encouraged young people?
I was very fortunate to learn the craft of
journalism through a straight line of
development from my studies in the UK and
learning languages – including teaching myself
Russian as a reporter in Moscow in the early to
mid-1980s. (I was helped in this by falling in
love with and marrying Russian pianist and
composer Sergei Dreznin.) Above all, I learned
to seize opportunities as they came along. I
always encourage young people to do the same.
What have been your greatest challenges?
The so-called work-life balance, which is indeed
a challenge when it comes to mothering and
working flat out in a profession that requires
quick and versatile solutions, often including
having to spring into action in the middle of
the night.
How did you manage that balance?
With a lot of help from Sergei and the very good
care my daughter, Lucy, received, first from her
multi-lingual nanny and kindergarten in Vienna
and then from her schools in Vienna, Paris and
New York.
What are the highlights of your career, most
exciting moments?
The fall of the Berlin Wall, as I accompanied the
first East German to cross through Checkpoint
Charlie into West Berlin. Covering the Balkan
wars of the 1990s, which taught us all that war is
always possible, even if you believe that peaceful
methods should prevail in global conflicts. I’m
especially proud of my colleagues in Belgrade,
Zagreb and Sarajevo, who did not allow their
governments to break their professional bonds.
The uncertainty we see around the world today
feels depressingly familiar to the so far failed
attempts to forge unity through peaceful
diplomacy. My decades of reporting and
organizing coverage of fast-moving,
world-changing events prepared me better
than some colleagues for the possibility of
conflagration. Maybe that’s a reason UN
Secretary-General António Guterres invited me
to take the post of Under-Secretary-General for
Global Communications at the UN in New York.
I spent two exciting years there before Sergei
and I decided to move back to Vienna and to the
many friends who make life here interesting
and important.
What were the most rewarding moments in
your life?
Sergei’s constant stream of new, creative works.
Alison Smale is a veteran British
journalist with some 40 years of
experience, half of that with
The New York Times. She lives
in Vienna, where she was also
based between 1987 and 1998 as
the AP’s (Associated Press)
Bureau Chief covering the
anticommunist revolutions
and the war in former
Yugoslavia. After a 20-year
career at The New York Times,
she did a two-year stint as
United Nations Under-
Secretary-General for global
communications. She was
Bureau Chief at The New York
Times in Berlin from 2013 to
2017, and before that, Executive
Editor of The International
Herald Tribune (IHT) in Paris.
She is the first and only woman
to have held that post.
22 INSPIRING WOMEN INSPIRING WOMEN 23

profile
A Life Built on Books
Tonia Arahova, American Women’s Organization of Greece (AWOG), tells
us all about how books edified her youth, her serendipitous start at the
National Library of Greece and the legacy libraries she established in honor
of her parents.
Iam an only child and grew up in Athens,
though we traveled a lot. I have childhood
memories of various places in Europe
and overseas. We had a very big library at
home and when my mom said good morning to
me every day, she quoted something she had
read the day before. Along with dolls and other
toys, my playroom was filled with fairy tales and
picture books. I slept with a book every night,
and the first poem I wrote was about a little girl
living in a booktown with the heroes of Homer's
Odyssey, the first story I'd learned which
influenced my curiosity for travel.
Family ties are traditionally very strong in
Greek culture. We tend to place a high value
on family relationships. It's common for multiple
generations to live together or near each other.
Starting a new life was a challenging but
rewarding experience for me. It meant stepping
outside my comfort zone even though I always
had the support of my parents. After finishing
my university studies in Modern and Byzantine
Philology, I was accepted as a PhD student
at Columbia University and started writing
the draft to my dissertation preface, regularly
visiting the reading room of the National Library
of Greece (NLG), gathering information on Nobel
laureate poet George Seferis.
Tonia Arahova
Tonia at the
Bookstock
Festival in
Leipzig,
24
Germany
INSPIRING WOMEN INSPIRING WOMEN 25

A Fortuitous Change of Course
One day, an NLG employee told me, "Young
lady, there is an open call for new staff at the
National Library of Greece. We need two
philologists." So, I decided to apply. After
nine months, as I was packing to fly to the US
and Columbia University, a woman called and
told me that I got the job. That's when I made
the life-changing decision to stay. This was
in June 1995; I will soon celebrate 29 years
working there. While I was studying philology, I
never thought I would devote my whole life to
the library field. Now I feel blessed!
As Paulo Coelho wrote in The Alchemist: “It’s true.
Life really is generous to those who pursue their
destiny.” My first involvement as part of the
scientific library staff was a coincidence. It was
a one-year contract as
a philologist for the
digital editing of
the first published
neo-Hellenic literary
magazine. We have
a Greek proverb,
“Nothing is more
permanent than the
temporary.” I started as
an employee, then later
became the Director
General of the National
Library. My job, as well
as my involvement
with international
organizations such as
IFLA (International
Federation of Library
Associations) and
This page, top to bottom:
(l to r) Tonia's husband, Tonia, her
sister-in-law and husband; with the
IFLA Governing Board after being
elected member and treasurer
Next page, from top to bottom:
at the Dublin Chester Beatty Library
talking about the role of women in
libraries; with Carla Diane Hayden,
the current Librarian of Congress
ENAM (European Network of
American Alumni Associations),
have given me the opportunity
to travel to 52 countries,
giving lectures on library
management, cultural
diplomacy, digitization,
information for women, green libraries and
the UN SDGs. I met amazing colleagues from
six different continents, exploring the complex
and global aspects of the information needs of
female-identifying women and female-identifying
individuals, focusing on them as users of library
and information services, as workers in the field
and as providers of information. Today, I am the
President of the General Council for Libraries at
the Greek Ministry of Education.
What do you find most rewarding as a
librarian and policy maker?
Working in the library field or as a policymaker is
fascinating. It's the most community-oriented
profession there is. I can change the future
either by teaching kids to love reading or by
organizing today's knowledge in a way that
librarians of the future will
find it. I can be a community
educator, organizer and
innovator while enhancing my
own creativity in ways that
will benefit the community as
well as the library itself! Being
a librarian has so much to offer
in the sense that I am able to
share my librarian skills, be
it with problem solving,
researching, retrieving or
information literacy. After
all, that is what I'm there for:
to serve and fulfill the
community’s needs.
The libraries of the 21 st century
provide a welcoming common
space that encourages
exploration and creation. They
bring together the best of the
physical and digital to create
learning hubs. Libraries are no
longer book storage places but
multi-functional spaces where
the community can have fun,
connect, interact and have
lasting relationships with
people, books and digital
resources. Library services are
essential for providing access to
information, education, and
culture to diverse communities.
Challenges
Library professionals face many
challenges such as changing
user needs, limited resources
and evolving technologies,
along with digital preservation
processes, copyright issues,
Artificial Intelligence, new
organizational behavior and
mindsets about the role of a
library today. The world’s social
service frameworks – including
libraries – have been affected by
COVID-19. All were profoundly
impacted and are searching for
endurance and computerized
innovation in the post-pandemic
era. Libraries are user–centered
community hubs with one goal:
to best serve people’s needs.
26 INSPIRING WOMEN INSPIRING WOMEN 27

to everyday life while enabling them to learn
written language and to communicate. Literacy
represents the potential for further intellectual
growth and its contribution to the economic and
socio-cultural development of society. Greece’s
general literacy rate for 2018 was 97.94%.
Between 2010-2021, the female literacy rate
in Greece had decreased by 0.05% to 99.14%.
According to the World Bank, in 2023, the
literacy rate of young females (percentage of
females aged 15-24) in Greece was reported at
99.07%. On a year-on-year basis, the literacy
rate increased by 0.02% in 2023.
Promoting Literacy Initiatives
The last two years were very hard for me as
I lost my parents. Both were addicted to
reading. I can still hear their words: “Knowledge
is the power to create a better world.” My dad
died holding a book at the age of 89. To honor
their memory, I took several initiatives to
promote literacy in the small hometown where
they were born. I donated my parents’ book
collection to the school library and a multiscanner,
PC and fax machine to the Town Hall
in order for them to get used to promoting
information on literacy to young girls in the area.
Also, along with two friends, instead of money
for the Stefania – an Orthodox custom – at my
parents’ funerals, we created three small
libraries. One is at the Nikaia State Hospital,
one is in the waiting room outside of the
Department of Mediterranean Anemia, and the
other is at the kidney transplant department.
In the twenty-first century, literacy skills
increasingly reflect technology use and
the abilities necessary to problem-solve,
collaborate and present information through
multimedia. As technology becomes more
readily available, concepts of literacy are
changing. I find posting on social media about
information literacy and the significance of
libraries a way to encourage people to see how
beneficial literacy is to society.
Amerigo Journalism Award presentation in Florence
All-women board meeting at the San Fransisco Reserve Bank
As the President of the General Council for
Libraries at the Ministry of Education in
Greece, how do you promote libraries in the
age of social media?
The Hellenic General Council of Libraries is a
corporate body of the Ministry of Education,
Research and Religious Affairs. The
responsibility of HGCL is to develop and
suggest policies to the Minister, as well as to
further analyze implementation strategies for
the public libraries in Greece, in cooperation
with the National Library of Greece.
During my term, we created a full document for
the previous and current Minister of Education
initiating a holistic strategy regarding the
libraries in topical, peripheral and national
frameworks. We proposed new services to
Greek citizens of any age to facilitate their
remote access both to library resources and to
new modern services that libraries, as inclusive
community spaces, can provide.
It is the first time in recent history that a huge
program funded by the European Recovery Fund
is due to be implemented in 45 public libraries
and the National Library as a practical outcome
of this policy document.
I communicated this step forward, along with
the 17 UN SDGs and their implementation, to
the library field using Facebook, Twitter and
LinkedIn. I hope TikTok will be next.
What is the state of literacy for women and
girls in your country?
A literacy rate demonstrates the overall
performance of primary education and literacy
programs that instill basic literary skills in the
population so that they can apply these skills
28 INSPIRING WOMEN INSPIRING WOMEN 29

profile
Writing an Inspiring
Children’s Book
Sotia Kythreoti, AWC Antwerp, was born with an invisible disability. She
conveys her journey of resilience, her love of travel and the valuable lessons
she garnered in I’m the Warrior of the Book.
I
was born in August 1992 in Cyprus, a
small island in the Mediterranean Sea. Life
gifted me with a unique superpower, one
that remains hidden from the eyes of others; a
diagnosis of an unclassified hypo-skeletal
dysplasia, a genetic disorder characterized by
bone and cartilage abnormalities. This rare
condition is what shaped my journey in
profound ways. For this reason, I spent most
of my early life in a hospital in Springfield,
Massachusetts. Growing up in the hospital was
a unique experience filled with challenges and
lessons. It taught me resilience and empathy,
but also brought some loneliness and fear.
Despite these difficulties, my family's support
and joyful moments helped me appreciate life's
blessings and shaped me into a stronger, more
compassionate person.
Sotia Kythreoti
Studies and Early Work Experience
I began my university studies at 18, completing
a BSc in Social Work at the Technological
Educational Institute of Heraklion, Crete.
Later, I earned an MSc in Counseling and
Professional Guidance from Frederick
University, graduating with top honors. Along
the way, I traveled throughout Europe, meeting
new people and experiencing different cultures.
Despite facing some difficulties
as someone with an invisible
disability, especially when seeking
assistance at airports, I never let it
hinder my love for travel.
Sotia with
patrons at a
book event
30 INSPIRING WOMEN INSPIRING WOMEN 31

After graduation, I gained valuable work
experience in healthcare across various
countries including Cyprus, Finland
and the United Kingdom. Each place
brought new perspectives, enriching my
understanding of humanity and deepening
my dedication to making a positive
difference in people's lives. During the
pandemic, I relocated to Belgium, where
I have spent the past three years with my
partner Johan and our two cats, Kori and
Louis. Living abroad has its challenges. I
often find myself grappling with feelings
of homesickness and nostalgia, missing
friends and family. Yet, despite these
hurdles, I continue to embrace the
adventure and growth that comes with
living in a new land.
What does the written or spoken word
mean to you?
In Belgium, finding a job was tough
because they wanted people who could
speak the local languages. As a person
with a disability, I faced discrimination and
struggled to get chances. So, I decided to
write a children's book about invisible
disabilities. I noticed there weren't many
such books, and most only talked about
specific topics. My
idea was to create
a book where kids
could be the main
heroes. They could
learn about
disabilities and
be warriors of
acceptance and
kindness. Writing
became my way of
speaking up for
fairness and
understanding. This
journey made
me realize how
important it is to tell
stories that help kids
learn about others
and accept them.
Every word I wrote
felt like a small
victory, showing
that we can all make
a difference, even
when things
are tough.
Developing the Craft
I developed my skills through different methods
and experiences: visiting local libraries exposed
me to a wide range of children's books and
allowed me to study different styles and
techniques. I immersed myself in reading,
exploring various subjects and storytelling
approaches. Additionally, I actively engaged
with social media groups, asking questions and
seeking advice from fellow authors and industry
professionals. Online research also played a
crucial role in expanding my knowledge base
and learning about current trends in children's
literature. By combining these resources and
continuously seeking new opportunities for
growth, I was able to develop my writing skills
and create a book that resonates with readers
of all ages.
Previous page, top to bottom:
driving round in a trolley at the hospital during leg
surgery; holiday with family
This page, top to bottom:
drawing at the Shriners Hospital for Children, Boston,
MA; in Monterrey, Mexico, with partner Johan Claes
32 INSPIRING WOMEN INSPIRING WOMEN 33

Main Challenges
A significant challenge was effectively promoting
and marketing the book to reach a wider
audience. I constantly seek new ideas and
strategies to improve my marketing efforts
and inspire parents to purchase the book. It's
essential to convey the book's value, emphasizing
how it can positively impact children's lives by
fostering empathy, understanding and
empowerment. By continuously innovating and
finding creative ways to connect with parents, I
strive to make my book more accessible and
appealing, ultimately encouraging them to
invest in their child's personal growth and
development through literature.
What are your career highlights and
rewarding moments?
Some of the highlights of my career revolve
around the incredible feedback I receive from
readers and their parents. One of the most
rewarding aspects is hearing how my book
helps them understand the perspective of a
child facing unknown situations during medical
treatment. It's truly invaluable to see that
my words can provide comfort and insight
during challenging times. Additionally,
receiving pictures of children seeing themselves
as the heroes of the book is immensely
gratifying. Knowing that my work can inspire
and empower young readers to embrace their
uniqueness fills me with joy, and reinforces my
commitment to creating meaningful literature.
Finding a Publisher and Writing for an
Adult Audience
Finding a publisher was a challenge. Since many
publishers were hesitant to address topics related
to disabilities, I decided to take matters into my
own hands, and I published the book myself.
Even though I faced rejection, I didn't give up. It
was important for me to share my story.
I would absolutely consider writing an adult
version of I'm the Warrior of the Book. I strongly
believe that adults can benefit from reading it
as well. In fact, they play a crucial role in
shaping the perceptions and attitudes of future
generations. Therefore, I encourage adults to
explore the book's themes of diversity, resilience
and inclusivity. Often, older generations are
the ones who struggle the most with accepting
differences and embracing diversity. By reading
the book, adults can gain valuable insights and
perspectives, fostering a greater understanding
and empathy towards individuals with disabilities.
It's crucial for adults to engage with literature
that promotes inclusivity, as it can lead to
positive changes in attitudes and behaviors.
Ultimately, I'm the Warrior of the Book serves
as a reminder to people of all ages that
acceptance and kindness are essential
virtues in creating a more inclusive and
compassionate society.
I'm the Warrior of the Book has really changed
how kids see others with disabilities. Through
its story, which celebrates diversity and
strength, the book makes children feel more
caring and understanding toward others. By
letting every child become the hero of the
story, the book demonstrates that it's okay
to be different and that everyone has their
own special qualities. This helps children
understand that being unique is normal and
encourages them to accept others just the
way they are. Through this book, I wanted to
convey the message that everyone is unique
and deserves acceptance. By embracing
diversity, children can learn to appreciate
individual differences and treat others with
kindness, regardless of any challenges they
may encounter.
Above and
previous page:
kids reading
Sotia's book
Right:
a page from I'm the
Warrior of the Book
34 INSPIRING WOMEN INSPIRING WOMEN 35

feature
We All Rise
by Peju “The Spark” Abuchi
Poet, Inspirational Speaker & Educator
"I
am healing the world, one stage at a
time, through the power of poetry.”
Peju showing her
debut collection of
poetry
We all Rise
In truth, no room for lies
We all Rise
And in rising together, we are made wise
We all Rise
In solidarity, in solitude
Cheering on as each one flies
We all RISE!
Here, there is no disguise
We are done with plotting each other’s
demise
With our actions and words
Queens - lay down your swords
We are warriors with our words
Speaking life into another’s world
We are hummingbirds and firebirds
We are thunderbirds and ladybirds
No room here for mockingbirds
We all RISE!
Arise!
See me through your eyes
Don’t cut me down to size
Or we’ll both lose the prize!
Will that be a surprise?
Come, Ladies -
For those who like pies
Come, Ladies -
Bring along your curvy thighs
Come, Ladies -
This ain’t a call to compromise
We’ve been told lies upon lies
That only a few are born to rise
But, right here, right now
Mother Nature has heard our cries
Our whys and goodbyes
We’re reminded that We All RISE!
36 INSPIRING WOMEN INSPIRING WOMEN 37

www.vbdc.co.uk
vbdc.volley@gmail.com Est. 2005
Video from YouTube
PERFORMANCE
I Am Woman!
Peju reciting one of her poems
Peju “The Spark” Abuchi, AWBS
International Women’s Club, has
dedicated her career to empowering
organizations towards a more
human-centred organizational
culture. With a rich background
in empowering youth education,
including work with the Prince’s
Trust and advocating for the holistic
needs of neuro-diverse learners, to
local community development,
encompassing championing the
unseen labour of stay-at-home
mothers, Peju has become a soughtafter
communicator, coach and
facilitator. Her unique fusion of
diplomacy and poetry has graced
platforms such as Channels TV,
BBC Radio, The Voice, Women in
Leadership Publication, The Film &
TV Charity, Black Inclusion Week
and The London Mayor’s Office.
Peju’s debut collection of poetry and
prose was recently published -
A Poetic Odyssey of Proclamations:
31 ways to sow, grow and flow
goodness into your life.
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38 INSPIRING WOMEN INSPIRING WOMEN 39

profile
Writing Historical
Fiction
Lisa Medved, AWC The Hague, has been a globetrotter since
childhood, navigating cultures and continents. She shares with us
her passion for literature and the path to publication of her first
novel, The Engraver’s Secret.
As a child, I spent two years in Indonesia
and three years in Washington DC for my
father’s work with the World Bank. Within
months of settling there, I adapted quickly to
local life, lost my Australian accent and adopted
an American one. I have vivid memories of the
wonderful patriotic celebrations for the
American Bicentenary in 1976, when my family
joined huge crowds in the National Mall, visited
iconic museums and memorials, attended a
folklife festival and watched spectacular parades
and firework displays.
After finishing school, I studied my passions at
university, history and fine art. My exposure
to diverse cultures and living overseas before
the age of ten left a lasting impression on my
appreciation of history and my understanding
of differences and similarities among various
nationalities. After completing a Bachelor of Arts
degree at the University of Melbourne, I married
my childhood sweetheart at age 21. We enjoyed
postings in several cities around Australia for his
work in the Royal Australian Air Force. I worked
in public relations, event management,
corporate identity and marketing
for local government and
private corporations.
Lisa Medved
My husband and I enjoyed
a three-year overseas
assignment for a global
corporation in San Francisco,
Book cover of
Lisa's first
historical novel
40 INSPIRING WOMEN INSPIRING WOMEN 41

where our first child was born, followed by two
years in Vancouver, Canada. After eight years
back in Melbourne, we relocated to the
Netherlands in 2008 with our young family.
We enjoyed traveling throughout Europe and
being exposed to an amazing array of places,
cultures and traditions. Becoming a member
of international groups, such as the American
Women’s Club in The Hague, helped me cope
with the challenges of being away from home,
navigating a foreign language and unfamiliar
traditions. It provided me with wonderful
opportunities to make friends with other expats.
Which books enchanted you as a child? What
do you enjoy reading today?
I became one of those children who reads
with a flashlight under the bed covers once
I discovered the magic of Charlotte’s Web,
The Borrowers, Anne of Green Gables and Little
Women. I was desperate to know whether
Charlotte saved Wilbur, or Anne sought revenge
for being called Carrots by Gilbert.
As a teenager, I enjoyed Australian fiction and
adventure novels, then I discovered literary
classics. My list of favorite authors always
changed – and still does today – depending
on my mood or interest. When I’m keen for
language from a bygone era and a leisurely
pace, I read Austen, the Brontës, Tolstoy, James,
With her
husband,
daughter and
son exploring
the fjords of
Norway,
October 2018
Hardy, Lawrence, Woolf, Waugh, Forster and Du
Maurier. For writers with an amazing economy
of language, I enjoy Chekhov, Wilde, Hemingway,
Fitzgerald and Steinbeck.
Today, I enjoy reading well-written psychological
thrillers, historical mysteries, books that
immerse me in extraordinary places and
introduce me to compelling characters.
Reading about the lives, times and emotional
complexities of fictional people helps me
appreciate my own life and those around me,
better understand the workings of the human
mind and be more empathetic.
Developing the Craft
The early years of my career focused on
academic, corporate and magazine writing
before I discovered my passion for fiction. I
began writing my first novel in 2014, finished the
first draft nine months later, and immediately
realized it needed a huge amount of work.
I attended an Arvon course in Devon, which
opened my eyes to the benefits of being part of
a writing community. Over the following years,
I participated in several online courses, a second
Arvon course (this time in West Yorkshire), and
made strong connections with fellow writers
which have lasted to this day. Writing is a
solitary pursuit, so it’s crucial for me to have a
support network of trustworthy, like-minded
people who provide honest feedback and muchneeded
encouragement.
Reading widely across all genres and styles also
provides me with inspiration and the impetus to
continue developing my writing craft. Reading
fiction can be comforting, inspiring and thoughtprovoking.
It exercises my brain in the same way
walking and yoga exercises my muscles. It also
introduces me to new concepts, broadens my
perspective and forces me to consider my views
on different issues.
What are the greatest challenges for a writer?
There are two main pathways to becoming a
fiction writer: either study creative writing at
university or self-guided learning. Both require
a person to hone their writing skills through
repeated practice and to submit material for
publication, thus competing with thousands of
writers who also hope to get their work noticed.
Exploring the tulip fields in Lisse, near her
home in the Netherlands, 2015
The publishing industry is incredibly
competitive. Writers need to be
resilient and persevere in practicing
their craft, regardless of the rejections
they receive. They also need to be
self-motivated and willing to spend a
great deal of time alone, researching,
writing, editing, learning techniques
and skills. It’s the equivalent to locking
yourself away in a cave and hyperfocusing
on one story.
Ironically, when a story is accepted for
publication, the writer must emerge
from their self-imposed isolation,
introduce themselves to the world and
explain their book to the public, which
can be daunting.
Highlights and Most
Rewarding Moments
I decided to try fiction writing when I
became an empty-nester. I wrote the
first draft of my novel in nine months,
then spent the next five years
re-writing the story, attending writing
courses, entering competitions and
editing until it was suitable to submit
to literary agents. During this period,
I experienced rejections from a large number of
agents and publishers. I realized that I needed to
be resilient if I was going to achieve my dream of
being a published author.
To stay focused on my publishing dream, I
reminded myself that my book was just one
submission in numerous teetering piles.
Someone would love it, but I needed to be
patient and not take the rejections personally.
I formed a thick skin and moved on. When I
received six rejections, I sent submissions out
to the next six agents on my list. Don’t give up
became my mantra.
After fourteen months of rejections – all saying
my manuscript “showed promise” – I finally
signed with an agent in London (2019), then
signed a Dutch translation publishing deal with a
Belgian publisher (2021), a second literary agent
in Melbourne (2022), and a two-book publishing
deal with HarperCollins Australia (2022).
42 INSPIRING WOMEN INSPIRING WOMEN 43

My first book was translated into Dutch and
published as De Graveur in February 2022 by
Horizon Publishing in Belgium. It was gratifying
to walk into bookshops in Belgium and the
Netherlands and see my book for sale.
The book, which in English is called The
Engraver’s Secret, was published on April 3, 2024
by HarperCollins Australia. The launch took
place in my hometown of Melbourne on April 4.
While submitting to agents and publishers, I
began writing my second book (due in 2025).
Immersing myself in writing a new story helped
me focus on being a writer and not thinking
about whether I would be published. I also
stayed in close contact with a small group of
fellow writers, whom I had met on a writing
course, and we provided one another with
encouragement and advice. I may write alone
in my study, but I am still part of a supportive
writing community.
Writing Historical Fiction
People read historical fiction to immerse
themselves in a story set in a past era, not
necessarily to learn facts about the past. One of
the main challenges of writing historical fiction
is including enough details from the past to
adequately flavor the story, without allowing it
to become so embedded with historical facts
and descriptive details that the storyline and
characters become lost and it reads like a
history book. Striking a balance is challenging.
Characters in historical fiction need to sound
appropriate for the era, but not use such strong
vernacular or old-world idiomatic phrases where
readers find the language confusing, tiring or
difficult to understand.
Deciding whether to bend the truth when
writing historical fiction is a challenge faced by
all writers. Bend the truth too much, and a writer
can face backlash unless they can justify their
reasons for tweaking the facts. Adhering strictly
to the facts may result in a story that is dry or
tedious. Choosing a middle course is often the
best approach.
Researching The Engraver’s Secret
I conducted massive research before I started
writing and while I wrote. The search engine
on my computer is constantly open, along with
etymology websites to check the accuracy of
words. For example, if cobalt blue pigment
wasn’t invented until 1803, I won’t use the term
in a seventeenth-century timeline, but rather the
more accurate terms ultramarine or smalt.
I researched Flemish seventeenth-century
history, customs and traditions, influences of
the Spanish Habsburg court, tensions between
Protestants and Catholics, Rubens and his peers'
art and lives and cartographers' maps. I learned
about goffering irons to crimp ruffled collars,
vegetables available on the markets, terminology
related to copyright, art and engraving.
For the modern-day timeline, I researched
painting conservation techniques, academic
theft, religious institutions, the villages of
Flanders. I learned abundantly about the two
time periods, but I was very selective as to which
details I included in the story. My story, after all,
is a work of fiction, not a history book, and
I didn’t want it to be overfilled with dry
information. The facts I learned were used to
flavor the story.
Visiting Book Store Dominicanen, Maastricht,
the Netherlands
44 INSPIRING WOMEN INSPIRING WOMEN 45

profile
A Family Foundation
Champions Aspiring
Authors
Clydette de Groot, AWG and AAWE Paris, co-directs The de Groot
Foundation. She explains what led to its creation, her life journey
and the joys of helping writers thrive.
Clydette de Groot
I
am originally from eastern Colorado.
Arrowhead hunts, 4-H projects, science
fairs, insect collecting, swimming in horse
tanks and books punctuated my childhood. My
four siblings and I learned to raise animals, plant
trees, ride horses, identify the galaxies, drive
before we were old enough and watch
for tornadoes.
I was lucky, my mother was my sixth grade
science and history teacher. She helped us check
out books at the local library. She encouraged
my sister and me to read about women she
found inspiring: Florence Nightingale, Marie
Curie, Helen Keller, Sacajawea and more.
My grandmother always had great book
recommendations. She ran the local bookmobile
delivering books to outlying communities.
At 16, I sold one of my 4-H Holsteins to help pay
for a summer study/travel program to France,
Italy and England. The world opened and I knew
I’d be back.
Work Experience
As many of the women in my family had done, I
became a teacher. I studied psychology, French
and Russian in my undergraduate program and
taught for five years in high schools in Colorado.
In the summers, I fulfilled my
urge to revisit Europe by leading
high school students on study/
travel abroad programs.
Clydette
introducing an
author at the
Miami Book Fair
46 INSPIRING WOMEN INSPIRING WOMEN 47

Having finished a master’s degree in counseling
and family systems therapy and a doctorate in
psychology, I accepted an invitation to join the
faculty of a family medicine residency training
program affiliated with the University of
Colorado Health Sciences Center, preparing
physicians for rural medical practice. My title
was Director of Behavioral Sciences which, for 25
years, was a rich and gratifying journey, working
with young physicians who were eager to learn
how to care for patients in the context of their
families and the consequent spectrum of
physical, emotional and psychosocial challenges.
Alongside my work in family medicine, I’ve been
fortunate to serve on nonprofit boards and
do consulting projects in companies, law
enforcement agencies and health care systems.
I still enjoy collaborating periodically on projects
with former colleagues.
FAWCO Life
As a past AWG Paris FAWCO rep, I enjoyed
promoting the Target Project to raise money for
clean water wells in Cambodia. I was impressed
by the smart, involved women I met through
AWG Paris and learned about FAWCO’s
commitment to support women worldwide.
After my first regional FAWCO meeting in The
Hague, I was hooked. Through our family
foundation, my husband and I have provided
challenge grants for Hope Beyond Displacement
and for the current Awesome Blossoms in
Kenya project. I look forward to being
involved with the new FAWCO Literacy is our
Legacy initiative.
A Shared Passion for the Written Word
I was most fortunate when I met my husband
Charles 30 years ago. We married in Paris and
bought a property in the south of France a few
years later. However, we couldn’t resist Paris so
we bought an apartment. I joined AWG, we
became involved with the American Library,
dusted off some of our writing at WICE
workshops and savored the author events at
the Village Voice. We worked with the American
Library to launch the visiting fellowships and
writer-in-residence programs. Thirteen years
later, we continue to provide funding for these
programs and are excited to see how they are
flourishing. We often say that Paris was the
genius of our renewed passion for literature.
Why and when did you create
The de Groot Foundation?
Charles and I both grew up in families that
instilled values of volunteerism and contributing
to our communities. When Charles' mother
approached us about continuing her
Previous page, left to right:
an inspiring and proud moment watching her
mother graduate from college; with her sister – a
constant source of inspiration, good books and fun!
Below:
with husband Charles, loving this time in their
life, as well as enjoying the work of The de Groot
Foundation together
philanthropic activity, we decided the best way
was to establish a family foundation.
We created The de Groot Foundation in 2010
to support high-impact, sustainable innovation,
education and cultural projects. From giving
seed money to start the first women’s hospital
in Cambodia to endowing a center for ethics
and caring in a US regional hospital system,
supporting film, literary and visual artists,
scholarships for science educators and social
interest community theater, we’ve been
privileged to witness the visionary work and
commitment of people around the world.
Through their words, writers have the power
to shape, heal, inspire and educate societies.
Because of our love of literature and the power
of story, we’re passionate about focusing The
de Groot Foundation’s initiatives on discovering
new voices and encouraging emerging writers.
We’ve been honored to host some well-known
authors – Kwame Alexander, Jacqueline
Woodson, Salman Rushdie – and to sponsor
people like Trevor Noah at the Miami Book Fair
when his insightful book about growing up
under apartheid, Born a Crime, was released.
What we savor is the chance to amplify the
voices of emerging writers and help strengthen
their resolve to write. It’s people like Leila C.
Nadir, who was a First Pages Prize awardee,
received a COURAGE to WRITE grant and
subsequently secured an agent for her intimate
geopolitical memoir, that we love to celebrate.
Co-directing the foundation with my husband is
a passion project that we enjoy doing together,
and we share lots of moments of gratitude for
what we learn about the rich landscape of what
matters to writers. We don’t get paid for this
work but we can do some projects while sipping
coffee in cafés anywhere in the world.
48 INSPIRING WOMEN INSPIRING WOMEN 49

We enjoy partnering with organizations
championing writers, such as Pen Parentis, The
Dial (an online magazine with a focus on locally
sourced writing from around the world), and the
Desperate Literature short story prize, or
providing scholarships to ensure diverse voices
can attend the Bread Loaf Environmental
Writers Conference. The American Library in
Paris is a dynamic institution that we’ve been
grateful to support for years through the Visiting
Fellows and Writers-in-Residence programs.
How do you encourage youth, especially
young women, to work with words?
Our programs are open to all ages (over 18)
and gender preferences. Yet we find, in the
self-selection process, that younger women
are dominant: The de Groot Foundation
partners with former 60 Minutes investigative
journalist Barry Lando to give grants to writers
exploring issues of immigration, migration and
the refugee experience. A recent grantee is an
early 20s Ukrainian woman completing a
bachelor’s degree in the US and writing about
war, women and displacement.
Previous page top to bottom:
at the Miami Book Fair, where The de Groot
Foundation had the honor of sponsoring Trevor
Noah, author of Born a Crime
with two of her favorite authors, Jacqueline
Woodson and Kwame Alexander, at a Miami book
event
Above:
with winners of a novella prize at Shakespeare & Co., Paris
Below:
with the super-talented winners of The de Groot Prize at the
Miami Book Fair
50 INSPIRING WOMEN INSPIRING WOMEN 51

A recent writing prize (a blind competition) went
to a young Vietnamese woman exploring her
father’s life during the Vietnam War. She worked
with her developmental mentor, which was part
of the prize package, to clarify the project and
create structure. Writers have taught us that
they yearn for mentoring to help them find the
soul of their story. We work with a variety of
writing mentors to assist our literary award
winners and grantees to further their projects.
What have you learned from encouraging and
supporting emerging writers?
A lot. A few things stand out:
• z Prize and grant money for writers is
secondary to the validation and recognition
these awards provide.
• z Building a writing community is important.
Meeting other grantees and awardees,
supporting and following each other’s work
is meaningful.
• z We used to think that writers would be
rewarded by receiving editing services. What
they cherish is mentoring or “writing therapy”
as several of our mentees call it. A chance
to talk with a seasoned writer and get clear
about a project.
• z Emerging writers are literary citizens. They
too want to give back. We love inviting former
grantees and awardees to serve on reading
and selection committees. They tell us this is
the ultimate master class experience.
• z This is work that Charles and I feel
privileged to do and enjoy doing together
from anywhere in the world. In the end, the
real joy is holding a published copy of a book
by one of our grantees who has just made it
across the finish line.
What are the main criteria for awarding your
COURAGE to WRITE grants?
We’re looking for authentic voices. Above all,
do we love what the writer is working to
accomplish? Does it pass the “cardiac test”?
Does my heart beat faster when I think about
this writer’s work being in the world? Does the
writer demonstrate courage in what they
explore and how they mine the subject? Does
the writer shine a fresh light on a timely or
important topic? Is the writer able to make the
personal universal? Does the writing have the
quality and craft we want to champion? Is the
applicant motivated, capable and committed to
completing the project?
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Hosting a group of international women in Paris to celebrate books about Paris
52 INSPIRING WOMEN INSPIRING WOMEN 53

feature
A Club Inspires:
Madrid
Curran McClure Reid,
President of AWC of Madrid,
takes us on a tour of her
dynamic club and introduces
us to the culinary, historical
and sightseeing wonders of
Madrid and Spain. Due to
her teaching schedule, Curran
only joined the club in late
2019, but two years later she
filled the position of 2nd vicepresident
and was elected
president in 2022.
Past and present presidents of AWC Madrid, September 2023
We’re turning 70 this year! In March 1954, 35 American women
met in a suite at a Hilton Hotel and founded the American
Women’s Club of Madrid as a charitable, non-profit organization.
The club provides friendship, support, and opportunity for
interaction among women of all nationalities. Since the
beginning, the members of the AWC Madrid have served the
community through activities and fundraising to support a
multitude of charitable organizations. In 1966, having outgrown the
rented room at the Hilton Hotel, the club purchased the present
clubhouse with the generous help of a member’s substantial down
payment. The clubhouse is the heart of our club, enabling members
to come in for coffee and a chat, check out a book from the wellstocked
library or enjoy a hot lunch.
Templo de
Debod at
sunset
(photo credit:
54 Yoav Aziz)
INSPIRING WOMEN INSPIRING WOMEN 55

Tell us about your members.
As of April 2024, the AWC of Madrid
membership stands at 147 members.
Two thirds are “Regular Members,” i.e.,
US citizens, but not necessarily ex-pats such
as those born in Spain to American parents
or married to Americans. One third are
“Associate Members,” i.e., not US citizens.
They hail from 20 different countries. The
profile of our membership has changed over
the last 70 years. After the Spanish Civil War
(1936-1939), Spain was ruled by the dictator
General Franco until his death in 1975. As
Spain transitioned to a democracy it became
more open to tourists and students. Whereas
the early members of the AWC were
invariably married to Americans, today
they are just as likely to have foreignborn
spouses.
How is the club run?
The club has an elected Executive Board
(president, vice-presidents, treasurer and
recording secretary), a General Board in
charge of areas such as Library, Charity,
Membership and Member Relations, and
Activity Leaders for areas such as Social
Media, Cultural Events and Special Events.
The Executive and General Board members
meet online every month.
Previous page, top to bottom:
Bring and Buy setup; beanie
workshop; breast cancer walk
This page, top to bottom:
intermediate bridge class;
handcrafts group, January 2024;
visiting the British cemetery in
Madrid, June 2023
Tell us about your club events.
Our most emblematic event is
the more than 50-year-old
annual Holiday Bazaar, drawing
more than 1,000 visitors,
frequently featured on local TV
and considered “the best
holiday bazaar in Madrid.” Other
annual events include a 5K
charity walk for Breast Cancer
Awareness, an ice cream social,
a spring book and bake sale and
a summer cocktail party.
Monthly signature events
include the Speakers Program,
the Bring & Buy secondhand
sale, the Wine & Tapas
evenings, Ladies Night, meals
with the “Out to Lunch Bunch”
and cultural visits. Book club,
film club and bridge are popular
regular in-house activities. We
offer Sunday walks in Madrid
parks and hot lunches at
the clubhouse.
Do you support a particular
cause or social organization?
The AWC of Madrid has longstanding
relationships with
several charities and regularly
donates a percentage of funds
to support them. We have been
supporting the children of San
Francisco de Asís Parish since
1956 by funding school
supplies, holiday food baskets
and summer camp scholarships.
Other beneficiaries include
Manos de Ayuda Social and
ACOGEM, an association to
56 INSPIRING WOMEN INSPIRING WOMEN 57

help immigrants and marginalized people.
We provide clothes to Pato Amarillo and
bags of unsold clothes and other items
to the Salvation Army after each month’s
Bring & Buy sale. We raise money through
charity events such as the Breast Cancer
Awareness walk for the Spanish Cancer
Association. Since “charity begins at
home,” we regularly check in on our most
elderly members, especially those who live
alone. Proceeds from our sales of scarves,
gloves and belts at the Holiday Bazaar
support the FAWCO Target projects.
What’s the climate like?
Contrary to the popular song, the rain in Spain
does not fall mainly on the plain! And even
though the climate in Madrid is often described
as “6 meses de invierno, 6 meses de infierno”
– “6 months of winter, 6 months of hell” – the
capital enjoys a predominantly Mediterranean
climate, with hot, dry summers and mild,
rainy winters. The best times to visit Madrid
are in May and from mid-September to the
beginning of November, when the days are
generally warm, sunny and comfortable.
Crystal Palace, Madrid
(photo credit: Ben Kirby)
Plaza Mayor, Madrid (photo credit: Juan Gomez)
Tell us about Madrid and Spain.
Madrid is vibrant and cosmopolitan,
lively and safe. It offers tourists
and residents alike amazing
architecture, world-class museums
and galleries, excellent
transportation services, worldfamous
food and great nightlife.
People live outdoors. Once the
warm weather arrives, outdoor
cafés are overflowing with people
enjoying a drink and a tapa or a
meal with friends and family.
Spain (505,370 sq km) is about
twice the size of Oregon with a
population of 47 million, mostly
urban. The country is surprisingly
diverse both in culture and
geography. It has four official
languages (Gallego, Catalan, Euskara
and Castellano) and is the secondmost
mountainous country in
Europe after Switzerland. Madrid
is the highest European capital.
Mealtimes are different here, with
lunch, the largest meal of the day,
eaten at 2 pm. In fact, you will hear
“Buenos días” (“Good morning”) until
lunchtime in Spain.
What places do you recommend for cultural
activities, dining, shopping, sightseeing,
nightlife, sports and nature?
You are spoiled for choice when you visit
Madrid. The downtown is almost completely
pedestrian, making it a delight to stroll along
the streets and stop for un vino or una caña
(a small cold beer) and tapas when you need
a rest.
Cultural activities include the “Big Three”
museums located near each other in the
“Golden Triangle of Art”: The Prado (Velázquez,
Goya, Bosch), the Reina Sofia (Dalí, Miró,
Picasso’s “Guernica”) and the Museo Nacional
Thyssen-Bornemisza, which fills in the gaps of
its counterparts’ collections (Titian, Caravaggio,
Gauguin, Cézanne and Hopper).
The sumptuous Royal Palace is the largest
palace in western Europe with more than 3,000
rooms. Catch the spectacular sunset from the
site of the Debod Temple (2nd century B.C.),
a gift from Egypt and UNESCO for Spain’s role
in saving the Abu Simbel temples after the
construction of the Aswan dam.
Madrid is known all over the world for its
nightlife: theatres, musicals, flamenco, cocktail
bars and nightclubs where you can dance until
dawn. Many hotels have rooftop terraces to
enjoy the views.
Downtown Madrid
58 INSPIRING WOMEN INSPIRING WOMEN 59

If you find yourself in Madrid on a Sunday
morning, visit “El Rastro” flea market with
more than 1,000 street vendors. Other
shopping areas are the emblematic
Gran Vía, the trendy Calle Fuencarral,
or Calle Goya and the more upmarket
Calle Serrano.
There is no shortage of bars, restaurants
and taverns in Madrid. Cava Baja street
near the Plaza Mayor is popular, as is the
vibrant Calle Huertas and Plaza Santa Ana
in the Literary Quarter.
City Snaps
Clockwise, from the top:
Retiro Park;
Gran Via, downtown Madrid;
Buen Retiro Park in the Spring;
Madrid's Financial District;
the Metropolis Building at the corner
of the Calle de Alcalá
Two UNESCO World Heritage sites are
easily accessible by train or bus from
Madrid: Toledo, home of El Greco, with
well-preserved architectural styles from
the Christian, Muslim and Jewish cultures,
and Segovia, with a 2,000-year-old Roman
aqueduct, still standing in the middle
of town.
As each of Spain’s 17 regions has a holiday,
as do towns and villages, it’s likely that any
day of the year is a holiday somewhere in
Spain! The most famous festivals include
Carnival, the Holy Week processions, the
April Fair in Seville, and the Fiesta de San
Fermín with the running of the bulls in
Pamplona, on July 7.
Discover Madrid:
www.esmadrid.com/en/discover-madrid
www.spain.info/en/destination/madrid
"El Rastro” flea market
Vintage-style wine bar
Lavapiés district of Madrid
60 INSPIRING WOMEN INSPIRING WOMEN 61

City Snaps
This page clockwise from the top:
Madrid City Hall;
the famous Cibeles Square at sunset;
cheese and chorizo
Puerta De Alcala
(the Alcala gate)
at sunset
Gardens of the
San Lorenzo
Monastery in
El Escorial
Majestic Cibeles Fountain
on Plaza de Cibeles
The Royal Palace of
Madrid (Palacio Real
de Madrid)
62 INSPIRING WOMEN INSPIRING WOMEN 63

profile
Knowing What to Write
& How to Write It
Nicole Gallicchio, AWC Oslo, is an academic editor who helps postgraduate
students make their theses and dissertations shine. She tells us about her
passion for words, her journey as a developmental editor and the challenges
of working freelance.
Nicole Gallicchio
As a child, we moved quite often, so I grew
up in just about every nook and cranny
of the United States. Forced to choose,
I oscillate between Seattle, Santa Fe and a little
town in Pennsylvania where my grandmother
and aunt lived. The town’s name was
Washington, but my grandmother pronounced
it “Warshington,” and I loved that. One of my
favorite things about moving was discovering
regional accents, as well as the different terms
people had for things, depending on where you
were in the US. An English teacher told me to
pay attention to those things, as they were what
gives English its color and flavor.
I went to Amherst College on the other side of
the country. I based my decision on two things:
I wanted to be able to study both English and
music, and I wanted to experience fall the way
I imagined it from Little Women. In the end, I
majored in anthropology, but took a plethora of
English and music courses. After graduation, I
worked at a few jobs (a bakery, museums and a
boarding school for dyslexic boys in Vermont).
I eventually found my way to the
University of Chicago, where I
got my Masters and started a
PhD program.
Nicole sewing
pumpkins for
AWC Oslo
Thanksgiving
fundraiser
64 INSPIRING WOMEN INSPIRING WOMEN 65

After a few years in Chicago, I moved to
Seattle to conduct fieldwork for my PhD.
I had a dog at the time who was
incredibly neurotic, but also sweet, and
I was excited to show him a saltwater
beach for the first time. We met up with
one of my best friends from high school,
Luke, with whom I’d loosely stayed in
touch. He, too, had a neurotic dog. We
soon realized that we had more in
common than our questionable choice
in dogs, got married, settled down for six
years then decided to sell everything and
move abroad. Luke has family in Norway,
and there was a hiring boom in the
engineering industry, so in what turned
out to be their coldest January in recent
history, we moved to Oslo with our new
dog (also neurotic). We’ve lived here for
nearly eleven years, with a three-year
accidental hiatus in France.
What does the written or spoken word
mean to you and why do you value it?
Early on, I realized that words matter:
they hurt, they soothe, they confuse, they
scare and they uplift. I was an early
reader and got my hands on anything I
could read (to my mom’s consternation,
often books above my maturity level!).
I loved sounding out the words I didn’t
know and trying to figure out what they
meant by studying them within the
context of the overall sentence. My
grandmother was an English
teacher and would respond with
“look it up in the dictionary”
whenever I queried her about a
word. I became adept at searching
out meanings. As we moved around,
I observed different forms of
communication and how they
worked to either enhance or
fragment community and
relationships. I began valuing people
who used their words responsibly
and intentionally.
Academia
In graduate school, I kept hitting
a wall with my dissertation. I’d
completed all of my coursework and
years of ethnographic fieldwork, and
even had an outline. But I froze when
it came time to put the proverbial
pen to paper. Although I had learned
to write well by that point, I struggled
to articulate what I wanted to say in
an “academic” way. The more I
struggled, the more anxious I
became: a vicious cycle, especially in
an environment known for its (often
brutal) competitiveness. I realized
that there was a gap between
knowing how to write and knowing
what to write – and that new scholars
are expected to automatically bridge
that gap. I was in a unique position
to help them and to draw back the
curtains around what constitutes
“academic” writing: stepping away
from the PhD and becoming an
academic editor and writing
instructor flowed organically (if
unexpectedly) from that.
Going native in Norway
Previous page, clockwise from top:
wedding picture with husband, Luke, and tortoise;
AWC antique market stand;
loving her dog, Lita
After we moved to Oslo, I had the
opportunity to work with a small
agency as an academic writing editor
for non-native English speakers. I
loved getting to work with words
– shaping, polishing and trying to
get at the bare bones of what the
authors were trying to say. I found
that working with, rather than inside,
academia was a good fit. To hone
my editing skills, I edited everything
I could: from business
communications, subtitles, articles,
textbooks to books, grant
66 INSPIRING WOMEN INSPIRING WOMEN 67

From the top:
busy editing;
a teaching
screenshot
most interested in working with and seize any
chance to practice your editing.
What are the greatest challenges as a
developmental editor?
As the vast majority of editors are freelancers,
we often find ourselves in a position of precarity.
There aren’t really unions to protect us, and
it’s difficult to charge for the true amount of
time we spend editing. Few of us are in salaried
positions. I also find it frustrating that support
for academic writing isn’t the norm around the
world: one, because most people never really
learn how to write in a systematic way, yet their
success will be defined by their ability to
communicate (in English, nonetheless!); and
two, because it’s highly unfair that the only
scholars who receive this essential support
are those with means or in academic institutions
that have sufficient resources. Academic editing
thus serves as a kind of unfortunate, de
facto gatekeeper.
What have been the most exciting and
rewarding moments career-wise?
Many of my clients (mostly women) are the first
in their family to go to graduate school, and a
good number are also older, having had a full
career before venturing onto the rocky doctoral
path. Their anxiety about writing “academically”
makes it that much more rewarding when they
succeed. For me, success is just as much
developing confidence as it is succeeding in
communicating their important work to an
international audience. Ten years ago, my be all
and end all was getting a PhD. But that changed
as my client base grew and I began teaching and
working with people from all over the world.
Now, receiving emails from students and clients
telling me that their article has been accepted,
that they’ve passed their PhD defense, that they
used three em dashes in their chapter, or that
they’ve written the first sentence in their first
book is rewarding.
Nicole's office
applications, theses and recommendation
letters. This was key to developing my editing
“toolbox.” Over time, I realized both that I could
essentially edit anything, from any field, as there
were certain universal factors at play, and that
the learning never stops.
What is a developmental editor?
When I describe my work as a developmental
editor, I start talking about bones. As an editor,
my job is to look for the bones in your work –
the very core of what you’re trying to
communicate. If the bones aren’t there or are
out of place, we’ve got to get them cleaned up
and get the skeleton put together correctly. That
takes care of the issues of cohesion, concision
and clarity. Then, we attend to creativity. For
example, are there places where punctuation or
synonyms might increase your audience’s
interest in what you’re communicating? Finally,
we look at the overall piece and ask whether the
content meets the objectives you have for it (in
academic circles, this centers around relevance
and style).
What is the best path to start in the field?
Because of my specific experience as an
erstwhile academic, I had extensive training in
reading and writing academic texts. However,
I’ve essentially been preparing to be an editor
for as long as I can remember, as the best way
to become an editor is to read. And to read
some more. And then to write, and read what
you’ve written, and rewrite that. The more you
read others’ and your own writing, the more
you can’t help but see how things fit together
(or don’t). It’s also important to learn to read
critically: this entails not just taking the words on
the page for granted, but trying to understand
what the author is truly trying to convey and
whether they could do this better. Discuss it with
others. Immerse yourself in the genre you’re
68 INSPIRING WOMEN INSPIRING WOMEN 69

profile
No Nicer Community on
the Planet!
Catherine Pettersson, AWC Stockholm, is the founder of the Stockholm
Writers Festival. She tells us about the benefits of belonging to a writing
community, the challenges posed by AI and the heroine of her historical novel.
Both of my parents were intelligence
officers for the Central Intellgence
Agency (CIA), so you could say my
upbringing wasn’t typical. We moved. A
lot. I went to six grammar schools and two high
schools. But this peripatetic lifestyle helped me
fit into new situations and cultures. In college,
I studied theater at the Catholic University of
America in Washington DC along with actor John
Slattery. (He played Roger Sterling in Mad Men.
No, we weren’t friends although he once asked
me the time and I almost melted!)
When I was in my 30s, I was working in PR and
on a roadshow for a Swedish company, I sat
next to a man on an airplane. He challenged me
to guess where his accent came from and I said,
“Sweden.” He was so impressed, he proposed.
(Okay, not quite. But as a writer, I’m allowed
to take liberties, right?) I’ve been living in
Stockholm since 1997 and have three adult
children. I’m a copywriter by day and a novelist
by night (or, more precisely, in the morning) with
one published work.
What significance does the written or spoken
word hold for you, and what were your
earliest literary influences?
Stories are the fabric that binds us as people.
They signal what’s important, communicate our
Catherine Pettersson
passion, our shared values. In a world where
tech seems to dominate our
daily lives, the stories we tell only
gain in importance.
Catherine
awarding a
What a gift to have learned my literary prize
earliest lessons through the lens during Stockholm
Writers Festival,
70 INSPIRING WOMEN 2022
INSPIRING WOMEN 71

of these women: Betty Smith (A Tree Grows in
Brooklyn), Laura Ingalls Wilder (Little House on
the Prairie), Jane Austen (Pride and Prejudice),
Charlotte Brontë (Jane Eyre) and Louisa May
Alcott (Little Women).
Learning the Trade and Highlights
I learned the hard way by writing thousands
and thousands of words and hoping for the
best. Then I got lucky. I learned about the
American Women’s Club, and more specifically,
The Stockholm Writers Group. They were kind
enough to accept me back in 2001, and they’ve
been (gently) critiquing my work ever since.
Selling a manuscript is on the top of the list of
my career highlights. I was so excited, in fact,
I got a tattoo. (I was 58 at the time and my
sons still haven’t gotten over their inked mom.)
Launching the Stockholm Writers Festival has
also been more rewarding than I could have
ever imagined. Bringing together a tribe of
writers. Helping each other. Sharing
knowledge. There is no nicer community on
the planet!
How did you deal with rejections by
publishers and how did you ultimately find
your publisher?
I cried. And cried. I said angry things. But
luckily, I managed to pick myself up and keep
sending out pitches until one finally bit. My
publisher is The Wild Rose Press based in the
US. They specialize in women’s fiction, and
I discovered them at a writers' festival, the
Midwest Writers Workshop in Indiana!
(I highly recommend this event. Standing at
the taco bar line, I struck up a conversation
with another writer who mentioned Wild
Rose. As writers, the greatest gift you can
give yourself is an investment in your craft
and community.)
The AI Challenge
The greatest challenge right now is the
disappearance of jobs due to AI. While other
professions are waiting and wondering,
copywriters have been impacted already.
I use AI, so it’s not as if I think it’s inherently
wrong. Like so many people, I do worry that
its application can be misguided. And I’ve
already seen my work as a copywriter eroded
thanks to AI writing platforms. I am still
hopeful for the future because I don’t think
we humans want to have our humanity
drained from the culture. I do think we want
to have a little AI buddy who will relieve us of
From top to bottom:
Catherine's three "littles" who are no longer little;
opening the inaugural Stockholm Writers Festival,
2018; guiding writers during a breakout session
our most tiresome chores. I just hope we strike
the balance.
Tell us about founding the Stockholm
Writers Festival.
Attending events around the world, fellow
writers from Stockholm would gripe, "Why don’t
we have something like this HERE?" I asked the
director of the Midwest Writers Workshop, Jama
Kehoe Bigger, if I could shadow her. As she
opened her heart and her spreadsheets,
I learned at her side. In 2017, I founded the
Stockholm Writers Festival, which gathers
writers and industry professionals for a
weekend of learning and community building.
Our first Festival in 2018 sold out. In short:
griping turned to doing and I haven’t looked
back. Now we’re on our 7th annual festival.
One of your historical novels is based on your
ancestor. Why did you want to tell her story?
My ancestor Jeanne Denot was one of 800
"Daughters of the King," women shipped from
France to Canada in the mid-1600s by King Louis
XIV, who wished to settle what he called "New
France." Jeanne's story was inspiring, but facts
regarding these women’s lives are murky. Like
my grandmother, many were illiterate orphans,
whose stories were lost to history. I fabricated
a tale which surely falls short of the drama of
her actual life. Imagine a two-month journey on
a wooden boat to a wild country where, upon
arrival, you’re matched with a stranger. These
women were incredibly strong.
There is no nicer community on the planet!
Catherine’s French ancestors married Native
Americans and their story inspired her novel
A Daughter of the King.
How do you encourage youth, especially
young women, to work with words?
What advice would you give to new writers?
In 2018, the Stockholm Writers Festival launched
the Stockholm Writers Network on Facebook.
Each Saturday, we host "butt-to-chair" (BTC)
sessions. (The philosophy: to create the book,
you need to first nail your posterior to a chair
and write!) Every other day, we hold virtual BTCs.
Although the network wasn’t initially aimed
toward young women, they’re our most ardent
members. Many write Fantasy, a genre favored
by the younger generation. Through the BTCs
and the Network, they can tap into a community
to learn about the business and connect with
critique partners. Most
importantly, they gain
accountability for
their writing.
As one of our faculty
said last year, and it’s
so true: “If you want to
break into writing, don’t
ask established authors.
Ask up-and-coming ones.
They have their ear to
the ground and can steer
you better.” This year,
through a cooperation
with FAWCO, we’re
offering discounts for
members to the 7 th
annual Stockholm
Writers Festival 2024,
August 23 to the 25.
72 INSPIRING WOMEN INSPIRING WOMEN 73

feature
FAWCO’s Literacy is Our
Legacy - A Celebration
by Elsie Bose, FAUSA and AWG Paris
Molly Brown
leading a critical
reading discussion
When FAWCO revised and upgraded its website a few years ago, a webpage was
devoted to Books by Members. It is located under the yellow Members tab.
Each year, we update the list by deleting old titles and asking our members to submit
new ones.
This year, when we sent out the request for new titles, the response was overwhelming!
Did you know that you could read a published book written by a FAWCO Club member
every month and your syllabus would be filled for over five years? And, included amongst
these members are writers who are literary award winners? And, at least THREE are
international best-selling authors?
The diversity of genres and the variety of themes enriched by the experiences lived in
different cultures, combined with FAWCO’s commitment to literacy, has inspired Literacy
is Our Legacy – A Celebration.
Literacy is Our Legacy – A Celebration was announced at the FAWCO Interim Meeting in
Porto, Portugal. It will have something for everyone. The celebration will include activities
and events that fall into four main categories:
• z Elevating Member Authors
• z Writers' Workshops
• z Commitment to Literacy
• z Reading is “Lit!"
74 INSPIRING WOMEN INSPIRING WOMEN 75

After the announcement in Porto, we held a
workshop and asked participants about their
ideas for the celebration. Writers’ workshops
were very high on the wish list. We are already
sharing information about workshops this
summer. We will also create some workshops
exclusively for FAWCO members. The great
thing is that MANY literacy and reading events
are already part of FAWCO. Education has been
on the FAWCO agenda since 1931. The FAWCO
Education Team works to advance the cause of
quality education and the pursuit of universal
literacy and numeracy. Events and activities are
planned by the team every year to inform and
educate our members. This initiative will
support their work.
Many of our clubs are already part of the Legacy
Celebration with their own book clubs. Virtual
or in person, book clubs up our intellectual
understanding in informal social settings. They
build friendships and promote understanding.
We hope to expand that with cross-club book
events. There may even be a FAWCO-wide book
Elsie's PowerPoint presentation
club, the "Dusk to Dawn Readers Group,"
acknowledging the challenges of holding a
meeting in 24 time zones! We want to encourage
all book clubs to select a title from our list for
their group to read. There might be an
opportunity to have a live discussion with the
book's author!
Information about Literacy Is Our Legacy – A
Celebration can be found in most of FAWCO’s
media channels. If you are interested in
getting exclusive updates and information about
our authors, have a published book you want
to include on our list, learn more about writers’
workshops, literacy projects, reading events
and more, send an email to:
literacylegacy@fawco.org and simply say,
“Put me on the List!”
Books by Members page:
https://www.fawco.org/members/member-tomember/books-by-members
Education Team page:
https://www.fawco.org/global-issues/education
“Keep good company, read good books, love good things
and cultivate soul and body as faithfully as you can.”
Louisa May Alcott, Rose in Bloom
“There is something delicious about
writing the first words of a story. You never
quite know where they'll take you.”
Beatrix Potter
Literacy is a bridge from misery to hope. It is a tool for
daily life in modern society. It is a bulwark against
poverty, and a building block of development, an
essential complement to investments in roads, dams,
clinics and factories. Literacy is a platform for
democratization, and a vehicle for the promotion of
cultural and national identity. Especially for girls and
women, it is an agent of family health and nutrition.
For everyone, everywhere, literacy is, along with
education in general, a basic human right ... Literacy
is, finally, the road to human progress and the means
through which every man, woman and child can
realize his or her full potential.”
Kofi Annan
“There is no greater agony than
bearing an untold story inside you.”
Maya Angelou
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
“If there's a book
that you want to
read, but it hasn't
been written yet,
then you must
write it.”
Toni Morrison
“A word after
a word after a
word is power.”
Margaret Atwood
76 INSPIRING WOMEN INSPIRING WOMEN 77

feature
Inspiring Reads:
Meet the Authors!
The success of so many FAWCO members as published authors provided
much of the inspiration for “Literacy is Our Legacy - A Celebration"
(see page 75). The Books by Members webpage currently features 46
authors and 75 books, and the list continues to grow! We are also
pleased that FAWCO authors cover many different genres: fiction,
non-fiction, personal memoirs, mysteries, comedies, thrillers, fantasy.
We have books for younger readers, as well as craft and cookbooks.
Considering new titles for your book club?
Putting together your personal reading list for the
summer holidays?
Why not support other FAWCO members and consult
the Books by Members webpage on the FAWCO website.
Each book summary includes the link to where the book can
be purchased.
For this issue of Inspiring Women, we thought we would feature
just a small sampling of the books on offer. Enjoy!
78 INSPIRING WOMEN INSPIRING WOMEN 79

Kristan Julius
AIWC Düsseldorf
Regina Joan-Grangé
writing as Gia de Cadenet
AAWE
The Drinnglennin Chronicles
The Drinnglennin Chronicles is an action-packed epic medieval
quartet, replete with all the elements fantasy lovers crave
– dragons & wizards, swords & sorcery, romance, intrigue
and betrayal. The realm of Drinnglennin hangs poised on the
cusp of chaos, for Urlion Konigur, the High King, is dying and
has yet to name an heir. Rumors abound that the Helgrins,
Drinnglennin’s bitterest foes, are preparing their longboats
to raid the Isle’s shores, while the roving å Livåri folk, for
whom the island kingdom is the last sanctuary, are strangely
disappearing. And in distant Belestar, the fabled dragons
are stirring from their self-imposed exile. One thing is certain:
whoever next sits on the Einhorn Throne will determine the
fate not only of Drinnglennin, but of all who dwell in the
Known World.
Buy on Amazon.
Not the Plan
Isadora Maris is damn good at her job. If all goes according to
her meticulous plan, she’ll soon be managing her boss’s
successful campaign for US Representative and finally land
her dream role: congressional aide in Washington, DC, where
she can really make a difference. But Isadora’s cool
professionalism is knocked off-kilter when she meets Karim
Sarda. Karim is gorgeous and brilliant and seems to share
many of her ideals. So why is he working for the California
senate’s most detestable scumbag? Given their bosses’ fierce
political rivalry, Isadora finds she can’t risk tarnishing her
reputation by flirting with the enemy, and she’s been betrayed
enough times to want to keep people at a distance. So she
deems Karim off-limits – no matter how flustered she feels
whenever he enters the room…
Purchase at Penguin Randomhouse.
Robin Meloy Goldsby
AIWC Cologne
Laurel Colless
AWC Finland
Photo Credit: Sascha Christophe
Piano Girl: A Memoir
Eye of the Stormlord
This is the story of one woman's accidental career as a
cocktail lounge piano player. Connecting the people she
has met with the places she has played and the pianos
she has known, Robin Meloy Goldsby discovers the human
side, for better or worse, of her audiences – mobsters and
moguls, the down-and-out, the downright scary and
ordinary people dealing with life in extraordinary ways.
This is the first book in a series of three.
Buy on Amazon.
Middle-grade thriller meets climate change! At Spiral Hall,
a school for the eco-demically gifted, the race is on to
make the top adventure team, and 11-year-old Peter
Blue is in the running. But when Peter learns that his dad,
thought dead for five years, might still be alive, he and his
friends are drawn into a larger test of courage going far
beyond the contest lines and forcing Peter to become the
hero he is destined to be.
Buy on Amazon.
80 INSPIRING WOMEN INSPIRING WOMEN 81

Sara Hendey and
Shireen Longva
AWC Stockholm
(photo Credit: Annette O’Riordan)
Down to Earth Cooking:
Quick, Delicious and
Nutritious Plant-based Recipes
Janet Skeslien Charles
AAWE Paris
Down to Earth Cooking is a must-have for both
veg-curious and experienced cooks looking for a fresh
approach to putting plants on the center of the plate.
Here you will find sweet and savory treats, soups, salads,
main dishes and desserts, all free from refined sugar,
dairy and eggs. In the growing shift towards a plant-based
diet, delicious and nutritious cooking is a breeze.
Purchase at s.hendey@yahoo.com.
Miss Morgan’s Book Brigade
This is a follow-up book to The Paris Library, which was an
instant New York Times, Washington Post and USA Today
bestseller. In 1918, as the Great War rages, Jessie Carson
takes a leave of absence from the New York Public
Library to work for the American Committee for
Devastated France. Founded by millionaire Anne Morgan,
this group of international women helps rebuild French
communities. Upon arrival, Jessie strives to establish
something that the French have never seen – children’s
libraries. She turns ambulances into bookmobiles and
trains the first French female librarians. Then she
disappears. Based on the extraordinary, little-known
history of the women who received the Croix de Guerre
medal for courage under fire, the novel is a tribute to the
resilience of the human spirit, the power of literature and
ultimately the courage it takes to make a change.
Buy on Amazon.
Paula Lucas
FAUSA
Harvesting Stones
From victim to victor, Paula Lucas weaves you through
her astonishing life in this tell-all memoir. Raised in
California, she met an international foreign photographer
in San Francisco after college and her life transformed.
She spent 14 years on a journey through Europe, the
Middle East and the Far East. To outsiders she had it all,
except she hid terrible secrets that almost cost the lives of
herself and her children. She fled Dubai, reaching the USA
and thought her nightmare was over. It wasn't. Homeless,
aged 40 and with three small boys, they lived in hiding
from the man who threatened, "I will hunt you down and
slaughter you like animals wherever you are in the world."
Paula is the founder of the Americans Overseas Domestic
Crisis Center.
Buy on Amazon.
82 INSPIRING WOMEN INSPIRING WOMEN 83

Veronica Ventura
AWC Bern
Do you know a club member
who has written and
published a book?
Encourage them to contact
literacylegacy@fawco.org
Ryder Stephens
Ryder Stephens is a popular and accomplished girl who
tumbled through her 13 years with effortless ease. But
after witnessing her mother's death, Ryder takes to the
streets to right the wrongs thrust upon her by an
unjust world. Pieces of Ryder's shattered ego spill onto
the NYC streets and all feels lost until that one freezing
morning, peeking from behind the stone lions at the
central library, she spots Jack. As he invites Ryder into his
home, she makes a decision: no more flashbacks, no more
grief. With one click, she deletes her past. Then, the
unthinkable happens. Ryder Stephens is far more than a
story of a young girl lost; it is about family and resilience;
it's about how society steps in to take care of its own.
Buy on Amazon.
Mickey Brent
AWC Brussels
Secondary
Secondary is the debut full-length collection of an insightful
and compassionate poet. Starting with the hopelessness
of unrequited love, a theme which twines through
medieval France, the aftermath of the Russian Revolution,
and the cruelty of a Time Lord choosing yet another
companion, the poems move to the agonies of cancer told
from a myriad of perspectives. Even in despair, though,
miracles are found – in gardens and the stars, in the loyalty
of dogs and the trust of a man in a Black Watch kilt.
Purchase at pisica@duck.com.
Tracey Rosenberg
AWC Central Scotland
Underwater Vibes
This quirky tale taking place in Brussels, Belgium, is a
contemporary romance with an LGBTQ twist, showcasing
multilingual, multicultural characters with plenty of
humor. This highly entertaining piece of literary fiction will
entice all readers. The idea for Underwater Vibes came as
an assignment for a college English composition course.
The story was about a plump, shy girl - a loner - who
learned to swim in a lake one summer. Mickey Brent’s
teacher loved the story and urged her to keep writing.
Years later, while taking a creative writing course in
Brussels, Mickey remembered that original essay. Each
day, as she biked through town, she jotted down new
ideas for the story. Despite minor accidents with light
poles and a parked car, she kept up her pace until she had
birthed a unique, humorous novel.
Purchase at Boldstroke Books.
84 INSPIRING WOMEN INSPIRING WOMEN 85

profile
From Shy Girl to Prolific
Creative Writer
Marjorie (Margie) Kanter, AWC Madrid, tells us how she became a hybrid
writer of short literary pieces based on real life.
Words matter. What we say and don't say,
how we say it and don't say it matters.
Language is the product of human creativity.
Learning to speak, to read and write is of
utmost importance in building ourselves, our
relationships and our societies. It can be a
tedious, unpleasant process or a wonderfully
pleasurable one. We live inside our language(s).
As a preschooler in 1946-7, I marked my identity
and wrote my first name on a photograph of
myself as a baby in 1943.
When I was married in 1971, the Justice of the
Peace told me I could not keep my maiden
name. So, I became Marjorie Delgado, I married
a Spaniard. It turned out to be a helpful identity
when I began working as a Bilingual Speech
and Language Therapist, working with
children and families primarily from Puerto Rico.
It helped to open the door to trust, belonging
and being accepted.
Marjorie Kanter
In the 1980s, after I moved to Spain and
applied for residency, the Spanish government
sent me back asking to see my birth certificate,
amongst other documents. My Spanish legal
name became Marjorie Kanter Kasfir, Kanter
being my father's last name and Kasfir my
mother's maiden name.
Marjorie
with the poet
Lorca on the
walking tour
of Madrid
86 INSPIRING WOMEN INSPIRING WOMEN 87

Clockwise from above:
marking her identity, 1946-7;
with parents, Edythe and Aaron, and siblings;
with her family and Grandma Kanter, 1952
As a writer, I write as Marjorie Kanter. Regarding
my first name, I answer to and enjoy when
others personalize our relationship with how
they say my first name: Marjorie, Maggie,
Marggie Margie, La Margari, Marji ... Marjorie
and Margie were not usual names in Spain at
the time.
What was noteworthy about your early years
and what did you learn?
I was not comfortable in public school. It had
a highly academic and socially competitive
environment. As I was shy, I pulled inside myself.
Outside of public school, I took ballet classes
for 10 years with Anneliese Von Oettingen and
drama classes from Miss Divan. I thrived in
many ways with both after-school teachers.
At home, my siblings and I would sometimes
perform in our small living room for our parents,
relatives and friends: I as the ballerina and Steve
and Joani as clowns. However, in larger social
contexts and public school, I was shy and lacked
self-confidence.
I went to a less competitive university and
gained confidence, I lost some of my shyness
there. Most of all, sharing my writing and living
outside my first culture has helped.
From my experiences and observations, I have
developed life lessons for myself and for
relating when I work with others, whether
children or adults: give yourself and others
opportunities to shine! If one can remember
those moments, even when there are negative
ones, hold onto the shine and turn everything
into a learning experience. Mixed experiences of
successes and failures, seeing yourself in
different lights, can help you grow and shine.
Nothing like a fall off the pedestal!
In which fields did you work at first?
During my high school years, I worked as an
usher at the Schubert Theater (so that I could
watch the plays for free); as an apprentice at
the Kroll Tent Theater (a summer theater where
I was even given a very small role in one of
the plays); and learned to apply make-up on
the extras at the Cincinnati Summer Opera
(amazingly held in the center of the zoo, the
animals joining in to sing.)
I worked in Pennsylvania for two years as a
monolingual speech and language therapist.
I met B, a little boy of five who lived with
an alcoholic grandfather and had already
received three years of therapy without
any progress. His only means of
communication was to throw himself on the
ground in a temper tantrum. He never smiled
and had been labeled as "retarded," deaf
or severely hearing impaired, emotionally
disturbed and brain damaged. Though I had
been taught that sign language was not the
way to work with the hearing impaired (that
was the philosophy of the time), I thought
“I have to try this.” So, I started taking sign
language classes and began using it with him,
in addition to activities using behavior
modification techniques. At the end of the
year, B tested as having normal intelligence
on non-verbal IQ tests and was accepted at
the school for the deaf.
In the early 80s, I also worked as a speech
therapist with a bilingual special-needs team
in Massachusetts, then as a teacher trainer
for the Massachusetts Department of
Education. A few years later, I was hired to
work as a consultant with a middle school
that had been cited for Prima Facie Denial
because they had placed more than fifty
percent of their Hispanic students in some
area of Special Education.
Tell us about your writing journey in Spain.
I first came to Europe in 1965 by student
ship all the way from California through the
Panama Canal, then traveled to Western and
Eastern Europe by bus, stopping in Barcelona
to stay in Spain for a month. That's when I
got hooked on Spain and thrived in interacting
with people. I moved there in 1986.
For the first eight years in Spain, I lived in
Tarifa, directly across the Straits of Gibraltar
from Tangier. Tarifa is a small town and there
were only few English speakers at the time.
That is when I really began my pre-creative
writing on paper, in journals, on a typewriter
when I got one ... no computer yet. I was
writing for myself. I didn't speak Spanish well,
so I needed someone to talk to, talk to in
English, and that person was myself.
Reading excerpts from her “hybrid” literary pieces (video)
88 INSPIRING WOMEN INSPIRING WOMEN 89

Above: covers of her first two books
Over the next 15 years, I became a writer, an
author, a poet. I consider myself a hybrid writer
of short literary pieces based on real life,
ethnographic and autoethnographic in nature,
stories and reflections with a poetic essence.
Writing is my soul. I often hear that it is a lonely
business. For me, it is not. It is a process, a flow,
an interaction with myself and with others.
Throughout my creation process, I am
dialoguing with someone, sharing the drafts
with at least someone else.
In 2004, I felt ready to send out a piece, The Skirt,
to an online short story journal, The Barcelona
Review, and they published it. Soon after, I
published my first book, I Displace the Air as I
Walk (2004), then Small Talk (2016) and Field
Notes, my first bilingual book (2023).
I have since published articles, poems and
stories, installed site-specific word projects,
given many workshops on writing and creativity
Next page, counterclockwise from top left:
stopping at a favorite spot while walking in Madrid;
working with high school students at the
International Institute of Madrid; AWC Sunday walk
in Retiro Park; Retiro Park Reading, March 2024
(focusing on opening doors to one's creativity
while finding individual purpose), fluidity and
development through writing, and presented
topics related to writing, linguistics and
literature at many conferences in Spain,
Germany, Morocco, the USA, Canada and online.
You can find samples of my work and more
about my activities on my website:
www.marjoriekanter.com.
One Final Thought and a Poem
I want to leave you with this thought: What is on
the page is one thing, what is in the author's and
the reader's mind is something else. We add to
the creation of what we read, which makes book
clubs and other discussions so interesting.
I am honored to have been asked to submit my
words for Inspiring Women. I wish to share how
important the preparation for sending in my
material has been to me. The questions I was
asked have opened up a flood.
Respect of a higher (the highest) order
She kept say(ing),
“Look at me when I talk to you.”
Each repetition stronger.
Each repetition more unpleasant
filled
with anger and
frustration and
aggression
and judg(e)ments
about
the insubordination
of this little individual.
He
kept looking down deeper and deeper
into the floor.
Marjorie Kanter
From I Displace the Air as I Walk, 2004
90 INSPIRING WOMEN INSPIRING WOMEN 91

profile
Fostering Writers
Through Creative
Writing Practice
Molly Moylan Brown is a doctoral candidate in Expressive Arts Therapy,
Coaching and Consulting, Education and Social Change at the European
Graduate School, and offers bespoke writing workshops to writers of all
ages. She tells us why storytelling matters and how her volunteer work at
AWC Berlin led to her current occupation.
Igrew up as one of 10 children in the walled
city of West Berlin. I learned there are
multifaceted “truths” to a story, not just in
family dynamics. I only had to dial through the
radio stations to hear different renditions of
news events being covered – probably my
earliest training in point of view work, one of
the most essential aspects of the writing craft.
Always drawn to the arts, I had professional
theatrical training in NYC and soon thereafter
founded a production company that delivered
training in self-expression, negotiation and
team-building in both theatrical and nontheatrical
settings such as corporations, NGOs,
schools and community organizations. I kept
learning along the way from leaders in the fields
of theater, writing and more.
Molly Moylan Brown
Prior to having a family, I traveled extensively
and lived in various places. Once my children
were born, I made a conscious decision to
raise them multiculturally. This led to an
unconventional, rather peripatetic way of life,
raising the children in many places over their
school years where they made a variety of
friends, learned languages, music, art and sports
while building impressive adaptability
skills and resilience, until they
chose – much to my surprise –
to attend a bilingual high school
in Berlin. They continue to
embrace the values of inclusion
and diversity.
Molly at
intensive training
program of Terre
des Femmes
92 INSPIRING WOMEN INSPIRING WOMEN 93

Why Storytelling Matters
I believe everyone is a storyteller
and therefore a potential writer.
Storytelling serves as our
fundamental means of
communication and
understanding. Writing stories –
real and imagined – helps us to
connect with our world and build
memory, as well as develop
collective wisdom and empathy
for one another.
What were your early
literary influences?
My mother was a voracious
reader and had a substantial
library of books purchased in
airports, London bookshops
and other English-language
bookstores. This is how I learned
about the world, snatching books
from her shelves, many of which
were certainly too sophisticated
for me at the time. They were
mostly by male Western writers,
which speaks volumes about the
literary landscape of the time.
Still, these works served as
windows to the larger world,
shaped my understanding of
humanity and my love of the
written word. From there, my
reading palette has continued to
be open to diverse female
and international writers.
What first drew you to your
chosen profession?
Throughout my childhood in an occupied city
and in a large, rather chaotic household, I
initiated the creation of plays and musicals for
family and friends to share in experiences of
levity and decentering from the quotidian
stress. It was only natural that I was drawn to
storytelling in all its forms – theatre, creative
writing and expressive arts for their broadening
intermodal possibilities. I have had formative
training from many gifted teachers such as Uta
Hagen, Natalie Goldberg, Tina Landau, Anne
Bogart, Paula Vogel, Mary Overlie, Augusto
Boal, Claire Keegan, and countless others. I also
earned degrees in Philosophy of Irish Theatre
and Film, Creative Writing and Art History, as
well as a number of professional certifications.
At the core of my dedication to nurturing
creative writing and fostering the arts is my
Molly and family inside one of the ‘Sila Giants’, umbrella pine centenarians,
in The Giants of Sila Nature Reserve, Calabria, Italy
fervent belief that we all contribute to and are
enhanced by the larger, transformative "we"
that arises when we embrace individual
differences, and celebrate our shared humanity
and interconnectedness through empowered
self-expression and storytelling. As a creative
collective, we can unleash an immense force
for positive change. This is peacebuilding
work, really.
I recognize that the process of cultivating
creativity and self-expression serves as a
catalyst for dialogue, healing and reconciliation.
It is also why I have immersed myself in training
in Marshall Rosenberg’s Nonviolent
Communication (NVC), as I seek to develop
alternative narrative forms that challenge
patriarchal models and traditional tropes, such
as the "hero’s myth" and its inherent violence.
Writing and storytelling in a community can be a
tool for building bridges, removing barriers and
cultivating mutual understanding.
How did you establish your signature
creative writing practice and what
differentiates it from others?
My journey to facilitating creative writing
workshops began unexpectedly as I helped
to relaunch AWC Berlin in 2015. I developed
and maintained the AWC blog (writing
articles and curating submitted essays from
members on various themes). Initially, this
led to offering countless hours of free
creative writing workshops to club members.
In time, I branched out on my own to offer
instruction to a wider international
community, both live and online. My
workshops are designed to help participants
connect to their own voices and to those
of their peers. The sharing of one’s own
and witnessing another’s writing is a practice
in compassion and contributes to the
formation of a deeper community
connection. In my creative writing and
expressive arts classes, I often partner with
other practitioners from the worlds of the
expressive arts and healing practices to
offer an enriching experience in personal
transformation and community vitality.
Reading is the foundation of my practice
of creative writing and facilitating creative
writing workshops. It is an ongoing practice
combining innate curiosity, research,
voracious reading, analysis and design which
enables me to continuously build and craft
my offerings as I grow as a facilitator. Every
workshop is custom-designed and, as a
participant recently remarked, "you never
step into the same river twice."
My professional beginnings as an actress
and theater director gave me a
deeply immersive experience
in aspects of "story" easily
transferable to the development
of my unique creative writing
methodology. I’ve enjoyed
transmuting aspects of theater
technique to the page such as
character, tension, place, point
of view, form, sensory detail and
change. Natalie Goldberg was
one of my early guides, helping
me find my own voice as I made
this transition from performing
roles to writing from my own
imagination.
From top to bottom:
delivering Welcome Baby bags for refugee newborns;
holding a refugee baby
94 INSPIRING WOMEN INSPIRING WOMEN 95

One of the strongest features of my writing
workshops is not only their diversity, but the
age span of participants from 18-85 years.
I’ve had mothers and daughters, cousins,
mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law, friends.
These eclectic, mixed groups contribute to a
beautiful exchange, creating a tapestry of
polyphonic voices across generations, cultures
and perspectives.
The Impact of Artificial Intelligence
Writing is an expressive art, something we
make. As we outsource our creativity to AI, it
will become increasingly difficult to distinguish
between AI and human-generated writing.
However, it is the very act of imagining, creating
and shaping one’s own creative expression in
the moment and over time that AI cannot
replicate or replace. Also, there is nothing like
"hive mind" – being in a room of curious and
imaginative creative artists – that offers energy,
inspiration and a sense of belonging that
technology cannot supplant. Combining
writing with other expressive arts adds to the
possibilities for an evolving rendition of form,
content and collective artmaking. It is the
quality of attention and the process
of creation, not the result, that is the
essence of artmaking.
From top to bottom:
The Vagina Monologues;
co-facilitating the Havel Retreat
Previous page, from top to bottom:
writing session;
a live reading
Greatest Challenges and Rewards
In addition to skilled facilitation, I believe
writing groups must establish clear
guidelines when it comes to offering
responses to fellow writers. We live in
a world rife with judgment, a kind of
violence we inflict on one another and
ourselves that can close off creativity.
My responsibility as a facilitator is to
help participants sidestep their egos,
cultivate and maintain a genuine
curiosity about writing, their own and
that of their peers. This encourages
creative flow in an atmosphere of
mutual respect and encouragement.
The cohesion of a cohort is a source of great joy
for me. Witnessing the growth and success of
my writers – whether they’ve been published in
esteemed literary magazines, written books or
brought their work to the stage – is immensely
rewarding. Equally gratifying is guiding firsttimers
who arrive with a willingness to find their
voice and develop their craft, then witness them
grow and surprise themselves with a piece of
writing beyond what they thought they were
capable of. In addition to leading retreats,
intensives, staged readings and specialized
course offerings through other organizations
and institutions, I find great satisfaction and
enjoyment in combining my courses with
contributions from other artists and practitioners
in the healing arts.
Writing is perceived as a mostly solitary pursuit.
However, writing together in a mutually
supportive environment is a way of building small
groups of social enterprise that offer a unique
opportunity for camaraderie, while also
bolstering and nurturing each participant’s
creative process and practice.
How does being bilingual and multicultural
inform your writing?
My bilingual and expat life has instilled a
profound curiosity and openness towards my
international participants – many of whom are
non-native English speakers – and made me
eager to help them develop their voice and hone
their storytelling skills. It is always a privilege to
be in a live workshop or "Zoom Room" where so
many different stories are being shared that
help broaden our perspectives, illuminate our
understanding and help us see the many threads
that unite us all.
96 INSPIRING WOMEN INSPIRING WOMEN 97

feature
Being a Word Nerd
by Tiffany Davenport, AWC Amsterdam
Tiffany's
billboard for
Paula's Choice
Skincare in
Amsterdam
I've always loved advertising. From the 80s Enjoli commercial with that song about
bringing home the bacon to the Don't Mess with Texas anti-litter campaign, I loved
the bite-size bits of entertainment. My sister and I used to record fake radio
commercials on our dad's stereo cassette recorder for products like dish soap or cars.
I wanted to be like Angela Bower on Who's The Boss, but living in a small town in Texas I
didn't know any advertising people. I figured you'd have to live in Manhattan for that kind
of career, so studying advertising was never in my sights.
I studied art history at the University of Texas, which involved writing lots of papers, and
that's where I developed my writing chops. I ended up marrying a Dutch guy and settling
down in Amsterdam, which is full of advertising agencies. The draw to try my luck in
the industry was irresistible, but since I didn't have a marketing education, I had to be
creative and hustle. I put together a portfolio of mock-up ads, kind of like I used to do
with my sister, entered competitions, went to every networking event I could, took any
freelance gig I could get and eventually teamed up with an art director. We ended up
getting a job at FHV BBDO.
Our first commercial was for Lay's potato chips and, at that time, their spokesperson was
Dutch actress Wendy van Dijk. We wrote a script putting her in a perfect Disney-like
animated world. It was an incredible learning experience. TV scripts became
our specialty and we went on to make more commercials for Lay’s, MilkyWay,
Valess, M&Ms and Doritos. I loved every second of working at that agency.
After my son was born, I decided to go for the flexibility of freelancing. My
services include concepts, copywriting, editing and translating. Over the years,
I've had a wide variety of clients and I learned something new from each one.
98 INSPIRING WOMEN INSPIRING WOMEN 99

I've written for big brands and companies
like Talpa Studios, G-Star Denim, Samsung
and Paula's Choice skincare, as well as local
initiatives like The Substitute, a platform
for sustainable furniture brands. Last year
I wrote an animation script for them about
the impact of fast furniture called The True
Price of Your Couch. It was very well received
in the industry and has been shown at a lot
of animation festivals.
Being a Word Nerd
I can get pretty nerdy when it comes to
words. With every assignment, I try to get
into the mind of the target audience and
imagine what brand messaging would
stand out for me as a consumer. I love the
challenge of hitting all the clients’ points. As
a copywriter, it's also important to be aware
of cultural nuances and how language
evolves. You have to stay on top of that
to keep your copy fresh and appealing. I
honestly find most of my clients’ work
incredibly interesting. I want to know as
much as I can about their business and how
they tick. It all goes into my writing.
When I started translating from Dutch to
English, some clients would change my
text to Dunglish, which is a Dutch person's
incorrect version of English. Whenever I
saw this happen, it would drive me crazy
because that's my work and reputation, but
that doesn't happen anymore. My clients
know better by now - leave the English to
the experts.
The biggest challenge in translating is
getting the tone right. The copy has to
connect with the audience in the same way.
It's not just about the words; it's about the
subtleties and little jokes. Luckily, my Dutch
husband can explain some of the more
complicated Dutch metaphors. The best
and biggest translating gig I ever had was
translating a script for Paul van Loon's
delightful Dutch children’s book Weg met die
Krokodil for a feature animation by KA-Ching
Cartoons. The film will be called The
Growcodile and will be released in 2025.
The Future of Copywriting
AI is changing the demand for copywriters
and translators and you have to evolve with
that. I don't mind AI. In fact, I use it as a tool
when I'm stuck. I recently had to write for
a Mergers and Acquisition firm and I had to
get into some pretty nitty-gritty text for their
website. The problem was that I didn't know a
lot about M&A, so I used an AI tool for help. I
typed in a few different prompts to get a wide
range of answers and educate myself on the
client. I would never take text from AI – that
wouldn't feel right. My copy has to be my voice
with my own logic and sentence structure. As
a copywriter, it's important to figure out your
own spin on things. That makes your copy
stand out and keeps clients coming back. The
goal is to be better than AI – and you can be
the better writer by putting your human heart
and soul into it.
For anyone looking to get into copywriting
or translating today, I’d suggest approaching
it with a big scope. Find all the ways you
can apply yourself as a writer. There are
opportunities in advertising, medical or legal
journals, corporate or political speeches and
school or grant applications. My advice is to
write what you care about.
Previous page, from top to bottom:
first commercial for Lay's, featuring Dutch
actress Wendy van Dijk;
on the set of Valess commercial;
animation for The True Price of Your Couch;
movie still from the animation feature
Growcodile from KA-Ching Cartoons
Dutch print ad for Zendium toothpaste
featuring Nijntje
Tiffany Davenport is a
native Texan who has called
Amsterdam home for the past
27 years. She shares her life
with her Dutch husband and
their 15-year-old son. She’s
been a copywriter for over 20
years and is currently working
on an animation based on a
short story she wrote. Tiffany
became a member of the
American Women's Club of
Amsterdam just over a year ago
and has recently signed on to
be a proofreader for Inspiring
Women. For our "Women
Working With Words" issue,
we invited her to share insights
into her career as a copywriter
and translator in the
Netherlands. More of her work
can be seen at
tiffanydavenport.com.
100 INSPIRING WOMEN INSPIRING WOMEN 101

our next issue
inspiring you
Call for
Nominees!
For our next issue of Inspiring Women we are looking for FAUSA and FAWCO entrepreneurs.
Women who are meeting the challenges of breaking in and breaking through with the “next big
thing.” Women running all sizes of businesses from one-woman shops to large companies with
a multitude of employees, long-established companies or start-ups, international or locally
focused, or women who turned their hobbies into businesses. We also want to hear from
women who promote female entrepreneurship as consultants, trainers or investors, as well
as from social entrepreneurs.
Founded in 1931, FAWCO is a global women's NGO (non-governmental organization), an
international network of independent volunteer clubs and associations comprising 58 member
clubs in 31 countries on six continents. FAWCO serves as a resource and a voice for its members;
seeks to improve the lives of women and girls worldwide, especially in the areas of human rights,
health, education and the environment; advocates for the rights of US citizens overseas; and
contributes to the global community through its Global Issues Teams and The FAWCO Foundation,
which provides development grants and education awards. Since 1997, FAWCO has held special
consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council.
our mission statement
FAWCO is an international federation of independent organizations whose mission is:
• to build strong support networks for its American and international membership;
• to improve the lives of women and girls worldwide;
• to advocate for the rights of US citizens overseas; and
• to mobilize the skills of its membership in support of global initiatives for
education, the environment, health and human rights.
Advertising disclaimer
FAWco receives financial remuneration for page space from advertisers. Views expressed or
benefits described in any display advertisement, advertorial or in any webpage visited online
directly from these adverts are not endorsed by FAWCO.
To nominate candidates for profiles, please send the candidate's name, candidate's email
address and a brief description (50-100 words) of why you think they are inspiring and fit the
theme for the issue. Send the information to:
Profiles Coordinator Shaza Gahiga Bwakira, iw.profiles@fawco.org.
To submit a feature: Features are used to complement the theme. This can be broadly
applied; let us know what you'd like to write about! Our features are 700-800 words plus
photos. Contact Features Coordinator Carol-Lyn McKelvey, iw.features@fawco.org for more
information.
copyright 2024 fawco
Inspiring Women© Magazine is owned and published electronically by FAWCO.
All rights reserved. All bylined articles are copyright of their respective authors as indicated herein
and are reproduced with their permission. The magazine or portions of it may not be reproduced
in any form, stored in any retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means – electronic,
mechanical, photocopy or otherwise – without written consent of the publisher.
Deadline for Nominations
The deadline for submitting
nominees and feature topics for
our next issue is ...
Wednesday, May 29, 2024
Photographs are integral to our magazine.
We end each issue with a full page photograph
that offers a unique perspective on its theme.
The photo can be provocative, amusing,
entertaining and/or a photo that you think says
"That's Inspired!" for each issue.
Please contact: iw.editor@fawco.org
Our photo-centric feature "Through My Lens" is a
compilation of photos and short captions
in keeping with the issue’s theme.
Please contact:
iw.features@fawco.org
102 INSPIRING WOMEN INSPIRING WOMEN 103

more about
this issue
The Inspiring Women Team
That's
Inspired!
Michele Connie Elsie Kristin Carol-Lyn Shaza Hollis
For more information about this magazine, please contact a member of the Inspiring Women team:
Editor in Chief Michele Hendrikse Du Bois: iw.editor@fawco.org
Assistant Editor Connie Phlipot: iw.assted@fawco.org
Advertising and Sponsorship Manager Elsie Bose: advertising@fawco.org
Layout Coordinator Kristin D. Haanæs: iw.layout@fawco.org
Features Coordinator Carol-Lyn McKelvey: iw.features@fawco.org
Profiles Coordinator Shaza Gahiga Bwakira: iw.profiles@fawco.org
Marketing Manager Hollis Vaughen: iw.marketing@fawco.org
Acknowledgements:
Thanks to our profilees (Tonia Arahova, Beth Blatt, Molly Moylan Brown, Clydette de Groot, Nicole
Gallicchio, Meg Gardiner, Marjorie Kanter, Sotia Kythreot, Lisa Medved, Catherine Pettersson) and
our feature contributors (Peju Abuchi, Tiffany Davenport, Curran McClure Reid, Alison Smale and
Teddie Weyr) for their work on the articles and also for the use of their photos and those of their
friends and families.
Special thanks to the proofreading team of Laurie Brooks (AWC Amsterdam & AWC The Hague),
Barbara Bühling (AIWC Düsseldorf), Mary Stewart Burgher (AWC Denmark), Sallie Chaballier (AAWE
Paris), Tiffany Davenport (AWC Amsterdam), Gail Johnsen (AWC Madrid), Margie O’Rourke (AWC
Dublin), Lesleigh Rizzi Brown (AIWC Genoa), Jenny Taylor (AIWC Cologne & AIWC Düsseldorf),
Shawn Watson (AWC Bern), Sally Webersinke (AIWC Cologne) and Teddie Weyr (AWA Vienna).
Please note: images used in this publication are either sourced from our team, the authors
themselves or through canva.com, commons.wikimedia.org or pixabay.com.
Please post a link for this issue of Inspiring Women,
"Women Working with Words," in your club
publications until "Entrepreneurial Women"
is published on September 23, 2024.
Inspiring each other
at one of Molly Moylan
Brown's writers' retreats
in Ireland
104 INSPIRING WOMEN INSPIRING WOMEN 105