Kay Adams
We Are Running into a New Year
January 23, 2026
11 AM PST | 12 PM MST | 1 PM CST | 2 PM EST

How do you enter the page—and how does that entrance shape your voice? Using Lucille Clifton’s poem “I Am Running into a New Year” as a generative spark, this session invites memoir writers to explore voice through movement and intention. Participants will begin by naming the verbs that describe how they’re entering the new year—running, dancing, limping, crawling, strolling—and then write brief passages from three distinct “entry points.” By comparing these voices on the page, we’ll notice how tone, rhythm, authority, and emotional stance shift (or stay surprisingly consistent). We’ll close with a focused discussion on how this technique can help memoirists consciously choose—and trust—the voice that best serves their story.

Bio
Kathleen (Kay) Adams is a psychotherapist, journal therapist and adult educator who has helped define the field of therapeutic writing. She is the author or editor of 14 books, including the classic best-seller, Journal to the Self and the textbook Expressive Writing: Foundations of Practice. She is the founder of the Center for Journal Therapy and the Therapeutic Writing Institute. Kay lives in the foothills west of Denver, Colorado with her retired husband, Ken, and their opinionated poodle, Banjo