The Writer's Journey with Laura Davis Podcast

Episode Title The Photo Challenge That Just Kept Going Episode Description Laura Davis returns with an update on the daily photo challenge she introduced last winter. What started as a 100-day commitment with a friend has taken on new dimensions, including a second participant and a fresh set of discoveries. Laura reflects on what she found when she looked back at months of daily images, and how t...

Episode Title: Pause for Peace: Loving in a Broken Time — featuring a poem by Frederick Joseph Episode Description: In this Midweek Pause for Peace , Laura Davis brings a poem that looks directly at the wreckage of our moment — and finds something glowing in the rubble. Frederick Joseph's "Loving in a Broken Time" neither flinches from the mess nor surrenders to it. Paired with peaceful imagery, t...

Episode Title The Work I Am Not at Liberty to Quit: A Writing Prompt That Gets to the Heart of What Matters Episode Description In this episode, acclaimed author and writing teacher Laura Davis shares one of her most powerful and enduring writing prompts—a favorite she's returned to again and again in more than twenty years of teaching. Drawing on a beloved essay-turned-poem as inspiration, Laura...

Episode Title: Pause for Peace: Pray for Peace — featuring a poem by Ellen Bass Episode Description: In this Midweek Pause for Peace , Laura Davis shares a poem by her longtime friend and co-author Ellen Bass — a poet whose work, Laura says simply, sings. "Pray for Peace" is a poem that refuses to keep the sacred confined to temples and kneeling benches. Paired with peaceful imagery, this episode...

Episode Title: Our Time Will Come: Keep Fighting with Joy Episode Description: Some words stop you in your tracks. In this episode, Laura Davis shares a passage from J. Drew Lanham — MacArthur Fellow, wildlife biologist, and poet — that has strengthened her again and again. It names the fire, the fuel, and the only rain that matters. What Laura Covers in This Episode: A passage from J. Drew Lanham...

Episode Title: Pause for Peace: testify — featuring a poem by Eve L. Ewing Episode Description: In this Midweek Pause for Peace , Laura Davis brings a poem that made her want to walk through her day celebrating beauty — and hopes it does the same for listeners. Eve L. Ewing's "testify" is a poem rooted in the Black church tradition of bearing witness: to grace, to survival, to the unexpected gifts...

PODCAST SHOW NOTES Episode Title: They Made Me Part of History: A Final Deleted Scene from the Cutting Room Floor Episode Description: Some stories are too good to lose—even when they have to go. In this special episode, acclaimed author and writing teacher Laura Davis shares the final deleted scene from her award-winning memoir, The Burning Light of Two Stars . It's a piece she fought to keep, sh...

Episode Title: Pause for Peace: "The Moment" by Margaret Atwood Episode Description: In this Midweek Pause for Peace , Laura Davis offers a poem that stops you cold — and then cracks something open. Margaret Atwood's "The Moment" holds up a mirror to one of humanity's oldest assumptions, and asks us to look again. Paired with peaceful imagery, this episode is a quiet invitation to reconsider what...

EPISODE TITLE: What Every Author Craves — And How AI Is Exploiting It EPISODE DESCRIPTION: Every author has a secret hunger. And somewhere, an algorithm has learned exactly how to feed it. In this solo episode, acclaimed author and writing teacher Laura Davis pulls back the curtain on a sophisticated new scam flooding writers' inboxes — one that bypasses the usual red flags by doing something far...

Episode Title: Pause for Peace: Listening for the Singing — featuring a poem by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer Episode Description: In this Midweek Pause for Peace , Laura Davis shares a poem from one of her favorite daily voices — Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer, whose poems arrive in Laura's inbox each morning like a warm and welcoming gift. "Listening for the Singing" holds the full weight of these times...

Episode Title Pause for Peace: Donna Ashworth's "As Time Goes By" – A Meditation on Letting Go and Opening to Life's Unfolding Episode Description In this Midweek Pause for Peace episode, host Laura Davis shares Scottish poet Donna Ashworth's moving poem "As Time Goes By," a reflection on life's essential truth: the continual process of letting go of what we think we can't bear to lose, only to op...

How to Lead a Writing Retreat People Never Forget Inside Secrets from Twenty-Five Years of Leading Retreats Episode Description: What separates a writing retreat people talk about for years from one they quickly forget? With her Flourishing as We Age retreat just days away at the Villa Maria del Mar in Santa Cruz, Laura Davis pulls back the curtain on the hard-won wisdom that has shaped her twenty...

Episode Title: Susanne Moser's "Drop in the Bucket" - Finding Power in Small Acts of Change Episode Description: In this Midweek Pause for Peace episode, acclaimed writing teacher and author Laura Davis shares climate scientist and poet Susanne Moser's powerful poem "drop in the bucket." Laura pairs this moving piece with peaceful imagery to offer listeners a meaningful respite while addressing on...

EPISODE TITLE A Mother's Blessing: Love, Loss, and a Wedding on the Red Sea EPISODE DESCRIPTION Some life experiences arrive too large for words — at least at first. Laura Davis returns from her daughter's four-day wedding celebration on the shores of the Red Sea in Egypt, carrying emotions she's still learning to name. In this episode, she reflects on what it means to be fully present to a moment...

PODCAST SHOW NOTES Episode Title: I Could Still Let Her Comfort Me Then: A Deleted Scene from the Cutting Room Floor Episode Description: It begins the way many childhood summers do — open roads, swimming holes, and the particular freedom of being ten years old enjoying a beautiful afternoon. Then one afternoon changes everything. In this second installment of her deleted scenes series, acclaimed...

Pause for Peace: Marge Piercy's "The Low Road" — A Timeless Poem About the Power of Collective Action In this Midweek Pause for Peace episode, acclaimed author and writing teacher Laura Davis shares Marge Piercy's iconic poem "The Low Road" — a fiercely hopeful poem about the power of collective action and solidarity. Laura reflects on her personal history with this poem, first encountering it in...

Episode Title: Maril Crabtree's Morning News: Poetry on Loving Life Despite World Horrors, Resilience, and Choosing to Stay Episode Description: In this episode of Midweek Pause for Peace, host Laura Davis shares Maril Crabtree's brief but powerful poem that captures the paradox of loving life fiercely even as we witness endless suffering. Through carefully selected imagery paired with these essen...

PODCAST SHOW NOTES: Episode Title: The Summer I Dropped Acid with My Father: A Deleted Scene and What I Had to Let go Episode Description: Some scenes are written perfectly and still have to go. In this special episode of The Writer's Journey , acclaimed author and writing teacher Laura Davis opens her archive of cut material from her award-winning 2021 memoir, The Burning Light of Two Stars , and...

Episode Title: Jan Richardson's Blessing When the World is Ending: Poetry for Navigating Grief, Collective Pain, and Finding Hope Episode Description: In this episode of Midweek Pause for Peace, host Laura Davis shares Jan Richardson's profound blessing that offers comfort and perspective during times of collective grief and personal anguish. Through carefully selected imagery paired with this mov...

And I So Walk: On healing, gratitude, and the natural world Episode Description: What does it feel like to come through the hardest season of your life and discover that — against all odds — you're thriving? In this deeply personal essay, Laura Davis shares where she is right now: body, spirit, and soul. From dual diagnoses to training hikes in the redwoods, this episode is a meditation on healing...

Episode Title: Aurora Levins Morales' Summons: A Call to Action for Peace, Collective Resistance, and Choosing to Stand in the Gap Episode Description: In this episode of Midweek Pause for Peace, host Laura Davis shares Aurora Levins Morales' powerful poem that serves as both dream vision and urgent call to action. Through carefully selected imagery paired with this rallying cry for peacemakers, L...

SHOW NOTES Episode Title: I've Hated Shopping for Clothes My Entire Life — Until I Didn't Have a Choice Episode Description: In this humorous, deeply personal episode, acclaimed author and writing teacher Laura Davis takes listeners on a journey that begins with a pile of luggage beside her bed and ends in a Victoria's Secret dressing room — with a lot of life in between. Equal parts funny, tender...

Episode Title: Mary Camille Thomas' Resistance: Poetry on Gardening as Metaphor for Political Struggle, Persistence, and Accepting Long Battles Episode Description: In this episode of Midweek Pause for Peace, host Laura Davis shares her writing group colleague Mary Camille Thomas' elegant poem that uses the work of removing invasive oxalis from a garden as a metaphor for political resistance. Thro...

Episode Title: Jack Gilbert's Defense: Poetry on Risking Delight, Accepting Gladness in the Ruthless Furnace, and Making Room for Joy Amid Suffering Episode Description: In this episode of Midweek Pause for Peace, host Laura Davis shares Jack Gilbert's profound poem that challenges us to embrace happiness and delight even as we remain aware of suffering everywhere. Through carefully selected image...

Episode Title: Hard Choices:  How I Decided to Publish Another Book and Risk Losing my Family. Episode Description: In this deeply personal episode, acclaimed author and writing teacher Laura Davis shares the essay she published in Publishers Weekly about her wrenching decision to publish her award-winning memoir, The Burning Light of Two Stars , nineteen years after publishing her last book. Laur...