Hello! My name is Kara and I am a graduating senior from the University of California, Irvine (UCI). Poetry is the love of my life, and I feel fulfillment when reading texts that demand to be heard. My writing is published in several literary journals including The Foundationalist from Bowdoin College, New Forum from UCI, and LUCID from UCI. Though I am grateful for the opportunities I've participated in during my studies at UCI, I am experiencing a mental health crisis that is negatively paralyzing me. I am currently living like Dante at the beginning of Inferno, I've found myself in a dark forest and I am overwhelmed. I need guidance and support, I feel far removed from human connection. I hope that I can find a group here who can help me along!

I am Shiwani Kaushal from Ludhiana.I did my postgraduation in English Literature, after completing Bachelors in Commerce. Yes, I play with numbers as well as words. While in graduation, I discovered my passion for reading and writing that I had never let go of. 
So, talking about my poems, I call them metamorphic poems because while writing them I overcame my fear, insecurities, and traumas to an extent and evolved into the human being I am today.

Looking for a group interestedin essays/non-fiction/memoir type writing- long time journaler trying to move into some organized disciplined writing habits to create a book of essays for my children.  Interested in working with a group where we can share work and get feedback--- and create a writing community.

For years I've been on auto-pilot maneuvering through life fulfilling obligations that I entered under a false understanding of who I was. Knowing my true passion was writing but being on the hamster wheel of life wouldn't allow for any real tangible emotions or language to emerge. I've done spoken word, written short stories and overall am I rather decent story-teller.  As an activist driven by a passion for social justice and as a local eleced official, I began to get my feet wet by writing my own speeches and delivering them at various events large and small across my home state of Massachusetts.  

When COVID hit me on March 6th and exacerbated my auto immune condition, I nearly lost my life.  Now with a community behind me raising money to seek the medical care I need and on a path to recovery, I begin writing again.  Forcing myself to go inward and really dig deep into all the unsustainable ways in which we manage to survive, the many ways women are objectified and taught to heal the world before we tend to self; as a proud activist and falling under labels that are typically marginalized, (convicted felon, BIPOC. disabled, women, fat, Puerto Rican, poor) I emerge from who I was to unapologetically story-tell experiences that will hopefully allow for folks to hear a perspective they aren't familiar with.  Now that I struggle with maintaining breath and energy due to illness, I have no choice but to channel through the keys at my fingertips.  I believe in intersection and inter-connectedness and I always choose Love. 

I would love to write with fellow writers  who have or are dealing with some sort of health issue. I have written in journals for most of my life and have been writing currently with a cancer survivors journal writing workshop. I want to find a space for supportive stream of consciousness writing that isn't going to be judged by others in a group. It would be like a support group, but with writing involved. No pressure to write well or long, just that you write whatever is on your mind in relation to the prompt.

Most of my writing has revolved around essays, periodical writings, scholarships, and grant writings. I enjoy those type of writings. However, I would really love to learn how to write to an audience on a more personal level with memoirs, literary fictions, historical fictions, and address youn adult issues through storytelling.