Women Sharing Stories is the name of the staged reading, directed by Ann Tracy, of eight true stories culled from the experiences of eight different senior women, who began the journey taking a writing class from Pat Taub at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Southern Maine two years ago. This one-day-only event is a matinee, Sunday, September 18th at 2 pm at the State Street Church, 159 State St in Portland ME. This event is free and open to the public, but donations are requested which will go to the church and to a group serving immigrants in Portland, Welcoming the Stranger (https://wtsmaine.com/). A reception will follow the performance so audience members may speak with the writers.

Taub says at the end of the class, the group had formed a strong bond and wanted to stay together as a writing group. This staged reading is the result of the group staying together and working on their individual stories culled from their life experiences. The group consists of Ana Lazar, Catherine Share, Cathie Whittenberg, Celia Wakefield, Eileen Griffin, Shirley DeLong, Shoshana Hoose and Teri Winner.

“I believe in the transformative power of women’s communities”, Taub replied when asked why she developed this particular class. “When women share their experiences among other women, they often feel affirmed and not as alone. Through the act of writing, each woman detailed turning points in her life. Reading her story aloud, allowed for deeper connections to others, who validated her experience, or raised questions to help her think anew about her life.”

Taub is a family therapist, writer and activist and life-long feminist. She is the author of the book The Mother of My Invention, where she describes how she made peace with her conflictual relationship with her mother. Six years ago Taub founded the weekly blog, WOW (Women’s Older Wisdom, wowblog.me), focusing on issues in the lives of older women. Taub continues to teach at OLLI at the University of Southern Maine. This fall she will be teaching “Women’s Spirituality.”