The statistics are in: 18 iconic Westport locations. Six library spots. Six pick-your-own-spots. All told, 250 “writes” during last month’s Write Here project.
Jan Bassin
Led by Jan Bassin — Senior Center coordinator of writing programs, and the Westport Library’s Maker-in-Residence — each hour-long session began with a brief introduction. After a prompt, Westporters of all ages, abilities and backgrounds began writing. At the end, volunteers shared their creations.
The proudest — or bravest — uploaded their writing to a dedicated website.
But those dry facts don’t come close to telling the whole “story.”
Like many participants, Bassin knew some of the writing locations well. In her case it was the Senior Center, Westport Country Playhouse, Compo Beach, Wakeman Town Farm, Levitt Pavilion and Farmers’ Market.
Others she hadn’t visited or thought about in years: Earthplace, Rolnick Observatory, Westport Historical Society.
She’d been to Toquet Hall only once; the Westport Weston Family YMCA and Ned Dimes Marina never. She had no idea where to find the police station entrance.
Writing at Earthplace …
Jan was excited to “discover” those new places. But just as intriguing was the chance to look at familiar places with new eyes: the Town Hall lobby, for example, and train station.
She realized too that classrooms at fire and police headquarters, picnic tables at Longshore and chairs under a tree at the Farmers’ Market were as exciting as the more “sparkly” venues.
Each site brought new revelations. Jan and her group sat spellbound as Nick Marsan described his circuitous, unexpected route to becoming a firefighter; Sue Pfister spoke of shifting her focus from business to social work, then finding a population where she could help; Lori Cochran-Dougall shared her passion for sustainability; Carleigh Welsh offered her heartfelt philosophy about the importance of the arts, and Shannon Calvert showed photos of the universe taken at the observatory.
… the Westport Country Playhouse …
Each visit, Jan says, “felt like a private and special writing party.” Everyone at every site treated the writers as special guests.
At the end of each talk, she guided the group into “feeling” the place they were in. The writing that followed was “amazing.”
It was “beautiful, connected and gorgeous” — even from people who insisted, “I don’t write.”
When she designed the month, Jan did not expect to be as moved as she was, every single day. “People’s voices and stories still play in my head,” she says with awe.
… and the Westport Farmers’ Market.
The project was as much about “place” as about words. “We can’t actually think of ourselves at any point in our lives without remembering where we were,” she notes.
“By writing together in a series of places in our town, we ask: What makes a community?”
The answer, it turns out, is write right here.
(Click here to read the writing posted to the Write Here website.)
Jan Bassin is a wonderful person. Thanks for highlighting her work.
the write stuff. A real write winger. Great work.
Wonderful program (and woman)!! We were honored to host the program and personally, I hope to attend one the next time they are hosted. #loveourlibrary
Thank you, Jan, for an Amazing August. I was, unfortunately, not able to attend many of the dates, but the ones I did attend, were special indeed, thanks to you and our hosts.
I hope you do this again next year.
Maria Zobel
The Write Here program was wonderful ! Jan Bassin deserves alot of credit for being so passionate about creating a sense of connection and community through our writing at unique and treasured locations in Westport where the people who worked there were thrilled to talk to us. And Thank you Dan Woog for promoting the program and for your appreciation of Jan.
Nina J. Marino