The Importance of Sharing Our Work

Where do you find inspiration? Music, poetry, short form prose? Our contributors highlighted the importance of sharing their work during the recent summer launch by sharing their stories, words deep from the vault of human thought. There is an unmatched connection between author and reader in these community settings where we can place feelings and thoughts within stories.

LPR’s Editor, Sarah Berger has shared her thoughts on the importance of sharing our literary work with community:

“I teach writing to college students, and I tell my students all the time that reading their work out loud is the best way to find out what they really wrote, since how it sounds is the real truth of it. Through our ears is how most of us learn language in the first place, and it’s how we hear stories before we learn to read. There’s something special about attending a live reading of prose and, especially, poetry. We get to learn a level of truth about a text that goes beyond what we see on the page. We also get to witness people sharing their innermost selves. This is an intimacy I find restorative, and I never take it for granted.”

Whether you attended LPR’s summer launch, or you find yourself gravitating towards open mic nights or even sharing your own work with a friend, there is great significance and courage in opening our inner world to those around us. Language can transform, cultivate and share what, many times, body language and varying art forms cannot. But to share language outside of our mind and the page is a catharsis that LPR is proud to host semi-annually with our friends and community.

Please find a slideshow from the recent launch featuring our contributors and members of the LPR team.