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Rewriting Homeless Identity

Writing as Coping in an Urban Homeless Community

Jeremy S. Godfrey

Rewriting Homeless Identity: Writing as Coping in an Urban Homeless Community focuses on the identities of homeless writers, with initially limited or no specialized training in writing, at a homeless community church. Through an ethnographic, two-year study, author Jeremy Godfrey hosted and participated in weekly writing workshops. He also participated in the founding of a street newspaper within that community. This book shows Godfrey’s experiences in leading writing workshops and how they promoted self-exploration within this community. Students of the workshop negotiated their unique, individual writing personas during the study. Those personas were often coping with their experiences on the streets. More importantly, the writers viewed those experiences as central to their writing processes. Much like the setting of the workshop at an urban, non-denominational, community church, the writers honed their coping tactics through conversational and performance-driven writings. Rewriting Homeless Identity highlights those writing samples and the conversations with homeless authors of the samples in relation to identity and a sense of growth.

Lexington Books

Pages: 176 • Trim: 6¼ x 9¼

978-0-7391-9035-7 • Hardback • December 2015 • $114.00 • (£88.00)

978-0-7391-9036-4 • eBook • December 2015 • $108.00 • (£83.00)

Subjects: Social Science / Anthropology / Cultural, Social Science / Poverty & Homelessness, Social Science / Demography

Rewriting Homeless Identity

Writing as Coping in an Urban Homeless Community

Hardback

eBook

Summary

Rewriting Homeless Identity: Writing as Coping in an Urban Homeless Community focuses on the identities of homeless writers, with initially limited or no specialized training in writing, at a homeless community church. Through an ethnographic, two-year study, author Jeremy Godfrey hosted and participated in weekly writing workshops. He also participated in the founding of a street newspaper within that community. This book shows Godfrey’s experiences in leading writing workshops and how they promoted self-exploration within this community. Students of the workshop negotiated their unique, individual writing personas during the study. Those personas were often coping with their experiences on the streets. More importantly, the writers viewed those experiences as central to their writing processes. Much like the setting of the workshop at an urban, non-denominational, community church, the writers honed their coping tactics through conversational and performance-driven writings. Rewriting Homeless Identity highlights those writing samples and the conversations with homeless authors of the samples in relation to identity and a sense of growth.

Details

Lexington Books

Pages: 176 • Trim: 6¼ x 9¼

978-0-7391-9035-7 • Hardback • December 2015 • $114.00 • (£88.00)

978-0-7391-9036-4 • eBook • December 2015 • $108.00 • (£83.00)

Subjects: Social Science / Anthropology / Cultural, Social Science / Poverty & Homelessness, Social Science / Demography

Author

Jeremy S. Godfrey is postdoctoral research associate at the University of Arizona.

Table of Contents

Preface
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Chapter 1: Identification through Participation
Chapter 2: Survey of U.S. Street Paper Discourse
Chapter 3: Discourse Analysis of An SNP Phenomenon
Chapter 4: Public Writing and Private Context
Chapter 5: Coping As Life Motivation
Chapter 6: Other Examples of Coping
Conclusion
Appendix: Transcribed Interviews with Some Writers of the Workshop and Overlook

Rewriting Homeless Identity

Writing as Coping in an Urban Homeless Community

Jeremy S. Godfrey

Rewriting Homeless Identity

Writing as Coping in an Urban Homeless Community

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