Austin Chapter
Reader's Guide
December 2000
The Woman Who Spilled Words All Over Herself:
Writing and Living the Zona Rosa Way
by Rosemary Daniell
For more than fifteen years, Rosemary Daniell has led Zona Rosa, a creative writing workshop for people of all ages and all walks of life. In this dual memoir and writing guide, she describes the difficulties and the rewards of the writing life while also providing inspiration and helpful tips for writers in all stages of their careers.
- On page 164, Rosemary talks of dealing with recurrent inner pain her whole life and how it relates to
her creativity. Do you agree with her that it is one of her strengths and do you have any examples of
your own?
- On p. 74 the author says "The one idea with which we had all been engraved, as deeply as though it were tattooed, was that freedom, especially sexual (and thus social) freedom for women led inevitably
to destruction." Do you agree? Why or why not? What ideas were you "engraved" with?
- What about being raised in the South caused Rosemary (among others) to feel repressed and (creatively speaking) stifled? Do you think that this is something peculiar to the South? Do you feel it in your own life (raised in the South or not)?
- What did Rosemary receive from Zona Rosa? Do you think that this is a common thread among women's groups and/or writing groups?
- Rosemary used humor throughout her book. What is your favorite example?