Book Review: A Certain Kind of Freedom: Stories and Poems from The Writer's Drawer by Beryl Belsky
Rating: 3.5 stars
Review: The Writer's Drawer is an online blog/resource site for writers seeking peer feedback and camradarie from fellow writers. It is managed and moderated by Beryl Belsky, a professional editor who wanted to provide a method for aspiring and/or rusty writers to receive professional (and free) editing support. It is a safe harbor where timid writers can put some of their work into a public space and test the waters, so to speak.
In the first collection compiled from submissions to this site (and published with permission, of course), there are three sections: short fiction, poetry, and an essays section that is somewhat of a "day in the life of" experience. The theme for my face-to-face book club for June was travel writing or books on a theme about moving from one place to another, so it was this last section that I was particularly interested in reading about. Since writers for The Writer's Drawer are global, this "day in the life of" essay theme would be a bit like playing armchair traveler, spending a few hours at a number of different places around the world. The idea worked out perfectly!
As with any collection of writings, there were some that I liked better than others, some that stood out or resonated more with me. I enjoyed visiting with a woman in Iran who helps escort a field trip for schoolgirls, and another in England who reflected on a decision made at an English dock that inevitably altered the survival of her family. It was the type of collection that stirred my own memories and had me thinking about what types of things I would write about with such a theme. It also reminded me that I hadn't visited the web site in a while which spurred a pleasant Saturday evening browsing through writings I hadn't yet seen. I even submitted one of my own this time, so maybe volume 2 of this collection will include something of mine.