Writer Ellen Morris Prewitt Blog

Sunday Question

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on November 24, 2019. Posted in General, GOD, HOMELESSNESS, Writing. 6 Comments

What action would you take after reading this? Ellen Morris Prewitt is an award-winning writer who uses creativity to create community. Her first published book was on making crosses from broken and found objects as a form of active prayer (Making Crosses: A Creative Connection to God (Paraclete Press, 2009.) The book led her to facilitate two...

The Art of Canoeing

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on November 16, 2019. Posted in General, LOVE. 4 Comments

When I married the first time, my parents gave me a bed as my wedding gift. A fancy, romantic, four-poster bed. It was what I asked for. By the time I quit that marriage, my husband hadn’t had sex with me in a month of Sundays. When I married this time, I asked for a canoe. Canoeing, like love, is not for the faint of heart. Unlike love, however,...

Those People on the Wall

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on November 13, 2019. Posted in General, LOVE. 4 Comments

I know what my ancestors looked like because their portraits hung on the wall. This is something I’ve always taken for granted. The portraits hang at what we call “505” (the house has a real name under the National Register of Historic Places—the Joseph Henry Morris House—but no one calls it anything but 505.) This man, the...

Claim the Disappearing: Chapter 9

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on November 11, 2019. Posted in Writing. Leave a Comment

(I invite you to enjoy this free New Orleans novel, courtesy of the wonder that is the internet, unrolled a teensy bit at a time. If you are just joining us, feel free to return to THE BEGINNING and work your way through.) The saint cleared his throat, urging me to get on with it. Outside the transom window, a tourist walked by in a tall jester’s...

Righting Groups: Certified Organic

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on November 7, 2019. Posted in General, HOMELESSNESS, Writing. Leave a Comment

This often happens. I lay awake at night thinking of the perfect topic for the next day’s Righting Group. Then I arrive at group. Lately, I’ve been doing RGs at new places that haven’t done RG before. So there is a recruitment spiel (even a bit of bribery with chocolate) and a period of uncertainty about whether the group will...

Quit Your Bellyaching

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on November 3, 2019. Posted in General, Writing. 6 Comments

You know that thing the Universe does when you’ve been complaining about something, and it says, “Ha! That’s nothing!” then shows you an example of how it could be SO MUCH WORSE? Well, the Universe did that when I was researching how exactly Don Quixote had been published (I thought the novel was serialized, and in a way...

Claim the Disappearing: Chapter 8

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on November 1, 2019. Posted in General, Writing. Leave a Comment

(I invite you to enjoy this free New Orleans novel, courtesy of the wonder that is the internet, unrolled a teensy bit at a time. If you are just joining us, feel free to return to THE BEGINNING and work your way through.) My Elfy was plump as a pin cushion. She spoke in spurts and nibbled her fingers in between her words. She was my great-grandmother...

Claim the Disappearing: Chapter 7

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on October 31, 2019. Posted in General, Writing. Leave a Comment

(I invite you to enjoy this free New Orleans novel, courtesy of the wonder that is the internet, unrolled a teensy bit at a time. If you are just joining us, feel free to return to THE BEGINNING and work your way through.) St. Claude lifted his palms from the marble top table and slow clapped. My chest warmed, pleased I’d impressed him. Then...

My New Righting Group Book

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on October 30, 2019. Posted in General, HOMELESSNESS, Writing. Leave a Comment

Y’all, I’ve been so busy getting my new book into the hands of folks who can use it, I haven’t stopped long enough to tell you about it. Most of y’all know for 8 years I was part of a weekly writing group of Memphians who had personally experienced homelessness. We wrote; we held public readings; we hosted full-day...

Claim the Disappearing: Chapter 6

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on October 27, 2019. Posted in General, Writing. Leave a Comment

(I invite you to enjoy this free New Orleans novel, courtesy of the wonder that is the internet, unrolled a teensy bit at a time. If you are just joining us, feel free to return to THE BEGINNING and work your way through.) Bigmama’s one and only child was birthed after the siege of Vicksburg in the American Civil War. Bigmama spent months ignoring...