This messy middle of our lives isn't easy.
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We publish essays and articles from midlife women.
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Our HerStories Journal is a way for us to spotlight midlife women's storytelling. We pay our writers through the support of readers. We appreciate your generosity in promoting the writing of women like you.
By midlife women, for midlife women.
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Hey there, we are Jessica and Stephanie.
Jessica Smock and Stephanie Sprenger are the co-founders and co-editors of the HerStories Project, a publishing and writing community for midlife women.
We met online as “blogging friends” and then founded the HerStories Project in 2013. We’ve published five essay collections, led dozens of writing groups, and have taught writing to hundreds of female writers over the past several years. It’s been our joy to work with midlife writers just like you. Our lives of juggling family and jobs and writing are much like yours. We know what it’s like, as midlife women, to want to carve out space in our lives for just ourselves.
"This HerStories workshop got me to write after a long period of procrastination, but more importantly, it impelled me to re-engage the whole practice of writing. I was inspired to sit down and think about my writing, what I want to write, what I need to write, and how I should go about it. It gave me the gentle push I was looking for. Stephanie and Jessica honour every woman’s personal pathway to discovering what works for her. "
-Â WORKSHOP PARTICIPANT
"Imagine a group of random women being thrown into an opportunity to write, splay themselves raw with words and thoughts, and not think twice about doing so. How easily a group of like minded creatives can come together with the right leadership, and a safe place. What a timely and important experience this has been for me."
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- WRITING GROUP PARTICIPANT