Liberating your Fullest Expression with Author and Writing Coach Anya Achtenberg Sefara-Rabi

Language of the Soul Podcast

Today we welcome the brilliant Anya Achtenberg Sefara-Rabi, author and longtime writing consultant. Anya shares her historical roots and what it is to identify as a 'person of the mix.' She chronicles how an innate defiance of writing convention yielded deeper access to the associative web that connects humanity. She suggests that by navigating it and turning the blind corners of language we liberate our most authentic selves—our unique 'music.' She explains how rigid and often trite conventions like 'writing from a sense of place' rob work of authenticity and specificity, citing the phenomenon of displaced individuals who are not afforded the luxury of feeling grounded.
We touch on Anya's illustrious career, her accolades and recognized contributions to prestigious literary platforms like Harvard Review and Gargoyle Magazine. We discuss her latest novel, 'History Artist' and her imminent poetry collection, 'Land in Water, Rise in Flame'. The excerpt she shares from 'History Artist' will reach the most human part of you, a perfect illustration of the power of language to move and transform us viscerally. Today's conversation is inspiring, to say the least. Join us in this first step toward liberating your own musical language.
Guest Bio: Anya Achtenberg is an award-winning fiction writer and poet whose publications include Blue Earth (novel); The Stories of Devil-Girl (novella); poetry collections The Stone of Language; I Know What the Small Girl Knew; individual works in many literary magazines, including Harvard Review; Gargoyle Magazine; Tupelo Quarterly; Beltway Poetry Quarterly; Poet Lore. Awards/distinctions received include from Southern Poetry Review; Another Chicago Magazine; Coppola’s Zoetrope: All-Story; New Letters; Raymond Carver Story Contest; Minnesota State Arts Board. Completing: novel History Artist, with an ensemble of characters centered around a young Cambodian woman born at the moment the U.S. invasion begins; poetry collection, land in water rise in flame.
Her blog Writing in Upheaval explores her organic approach to writing craft that expands creativity; counters historical amnesia; examines how trauma and narration connect, and how history sits in us.
Anya consults individually; teaches two series of fiction/memoir/multi-genre creative writing courses: Writing for Social Change: Re-Dream a Just World; and The Disobedient Writer Workshops.

Support the Show.

If you would like to make a one-time donation, CLICK HERE, or you can click the support button for other monthly support options.
To learn more and order Language of the Soul: www.dominickdomingo.com/theseeker
Think you would be a great guest for our podcast; please submit a request at LOTS Podcast Guest Pitch Form.
Now more than ever, it’s tempting to throw our hands in the air and surrender to futility in the face of global strife. Storytellers know we must renew hope daily. We are being called upon to embrace our interconnectivity, transform paradigms, and trust the ripple effect will play its part. In the words of Lion King producer Don Hahn (Episode 8), “Telling stories is one of the most important professions out there right now.” We here at Language of the Soul Podcast could not agree more.
This podcast is a labor of love. You can help us spread the word about the power of story to transform. Your donation, however big or small, will help us build our platform and thereby get the word out. Together, we can change the world…one heart at a time!