The Spark

I sat across from a poet I’d admired for years. We shared mutual friends, but never crossed paths before that weekend. I was at my first writing retreat since welcoming my first son three years prior—I was rusty and nervous. 

This poet, whose name is Laura, was the opposite of the cautionary "never meet your heroes" phrase. She was disarmingly kind and wickedly funny. She is also a mother, of children much older than mine. 

When I welcomed my first son, I most craved the insights of other writers. But I was fairly isolated and extremely anxious. Now, finally post-pandemic, I was once again surrounded by poets.

"What advice can you give me?” I asked Laura, desperately, from across the table covered in plates of slightly stale crackers. “How did you write when your kids were babies?"

She shook her head and said, "I didn't really. I had a hard time finding the time to write when they were really young. But it does get better...it does."

Laura has books of poetry published. Beautiful, award-winning books. She then said, “I’m sorry if that’s not what you want to hear.”

It was exactly what I needed to hear. 

It was validating and reassuring. Frustrating, yet releasing. It made me feel known.

That restorative weekend, paired with how much I value the individuals I met in several prenatal and postpartum support groups, led me to create the Postpartum Writing Collective. 

I believe creative individuals need each other. This is a space to help you find one another.

Thank you for being here.

— Cathie Wigert,
Founder of the Postpartum Writing Collective