cover image The Woman Who Spilled Words All Over Herself: How to Write the Zona Rosa Way

The Woman Who Spilled Words All Over Herself: How to Write the Zona Rosa Way

Rosemary Daniell. Faber & Faber, $24.95 (216pp) ISBN 978-0-571-19906-8

Zona Rosa is the Savannah creative writing workshop that poet and writer Daniell started for women 15 years ago. The workshop eventually began accepting men who, ""no matter how masculine they might appear to be, found it acceptable to be part of a group led by a woman."" Her occasional forays into women-as-victim territory aside, Daniell's account of the writing life is well worth the time. In addition to very useful writing tips and plenty of encouragement, readers are bound to come away with the sense that the author is one heck of a fascinating person. Daniell has more sides than a cut-crystal prism: she's the daughter (of an alcoholic father and a suicidal mother), the devoted mother, the wife (of four different men), the ""sexual and emotional adventuress,"" the one-time heavy drinker, the teacher, the feminist, the amateur analyst and, of course, the writer. For Daniell, writing is on a par with breathing--""It heals, it empowers, it organizes, it beautifies""--and she can't help but share her passion. Much of the second half of the book is devoted to stories of her students and their successes--which ranged from simply finishing a project to getting published. These stories sing, and from them one gets the sense that Daniell is the kind of teacher any budding writer would be fortunate to know. (May)