Writer Ellen Morris Prewitt Blog

June: Not a Sentimental Person

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on May 2, 2016. Posted in General, GOD, HOMELESSNESS, Writing. 12 Comments on June: Not a Sentimental Person

Many years ago, when I was letting the Spirit lead me around by the nose, I went to Door of Hope and asked if I could start a writing group for men and women living on the street. Dr. June Mann Averyt, the founder and then Executive Director of Door of Hope, watched me toddle through the door in my high heels and said, “What the hell—go...

Spiritual Dyslexia and Central Command

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on April 30, 2016. Posted in GOD, Writing. 9 Comments on Spiritual Dyslexia and Central Command

I call it “spiritual dyslexia.” When I was teaching myself to write, if an offering really, really did not appeal to me, I reluctantly signed up. That’s how I discovered literary journalism—literary journalism? I gasped when I read the syllabus Randall Kenan was teaching that year. It sounded terrible, but Randall was teaching it...

An Outside Plant

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on April 27, 2016. Posted in Racism to Reconciliation. 2 Comments on An Outside Plant

He had one plant, small. I had three hanging baskets and two big ferns, fat. He’d been there when I arrived, he and his wife wandering among the plants. It was mid-day Wednesday, no one else at the nursery. A young, spring day. The swarms of eager Memphians hadn’t yet descended on the unsuspecting begonias and geraniums. No one in...

Who’s Threatening the Grapes?

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on April 17, 2016. Posted in General, Writing. No Comments on Who’s Threatening the Grapes?

Why do the grapes need protecting? I’m talking about it on the website. Yes, I mean literally talking. Go to the Home Page and listen to the front porch moment. Then listen to “Drunk at the Foodland Again” at STORIES. You’ll learn the answer as told to you in my voice. My Very Southern Voice. ?

Check Out This New Blog

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on April 13, 2016. Posted in Writing. No Comments on Check Out This New Blog

My writing coach and wonderful friend Connie Burnett Cruthirds has started a blog! If her initial post is any indication, you’ll want to join me in following along. Peace by Piece: “How Can I be 54 and Still Fat?”

Targeting LGBT Discrimination in the South

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on April 8, 2016. Posted in GRIEF, Racism to Reconciliation. 2 Comments on Targeting LGBT Discrimination in the South

I went to junior high and high school in Charlotte, North Carolina. Charlotte was the home I returned to in college and law school. When my daddy died, I sang over his grave: “I’m a Tar Heel born, I’m a Tar Heel bred, and when I die, I’m a Tar Heel dead.” The North Carolina legislature recently passed a new law authorizing...

Trust the River

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on April 5, 2016. Posted in General, HOMELESSNESS, Writing. 2 Comments on Trust the River

I arrived at a certain point in the writing of Jazzy and the Pirate that felt like a period. An ending about to soar to a new beginning. Exciting, but also a bit daunting. I needed a break. How does a writer take a break? Revise a different novel, of course. Don’t worry. I’m not abandoning Jazzy. I’m simply letting my mind focus...

Constructing Life

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on April 4, 2016. Posted in General, LOVE. No Comments on Constructing Life

The boss man wasn’t there today. That’s what the worker told me, standing in the great room of our half-finished house. He was sanding. I was inspecting. He thought the homeowners might want to talk to the boss. I wanted to talk to him, the man guiding the sanding machine, the one who would rub the stain on the floor. The man who...

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on April 2, 2016. Posted in GRIEF. 2 Comments on Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!

I very much appreciate EAP:The Magazine publishing my essay “Grief: What’s the Best I Can Do?” I really like this magazine. Full of good writers, talking about interesting, important stuff. Mosey around and peruse some of the content when you click through to read my essay. 🙂 Grief: What’s the Best I Can Do?

Why Christianity as We Know It Won’t Survive: An Easter Saturday Reflection

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on March 26, 2016. Posted in GOD. 4 Comments on Why Christianity as We Know It Won’t Survive: An Easter Saturday Reflection

Mary Magdalene was the first to see the risen Christ, and in American Christianity today we debate whether women should be allowed to be in the forefront of the church. Mary the Mother of God took the radical, courageous step of agreeing to birth the Messiah, and the most dominant adjective used by the Christian church today to describe her is...