Prose writers love the sonnet.  At least I think they would if asked to pick a form–because of the turn.  A sonnet develops a theme, a meditation, and then like a triumph narrative, it reaches an epiphany when it takes a different direction.

The strict regularity of the lines sets a trap.  And our desire for change keeps us reading.

This is why I think the sonnet invites a breaking free from an enclosed structure and why anyone who has lived out the narrative of survival might want to embrace the sonnet–as well as sonnet variations.

Here I invite women to share stories of survival in your own form of the sonnet.  The only rule is that there must be 14 lines.  Be as creative as you want with everything else.

The word sonnet comes from the Italian sonetto, “little song.”  Though adhering to fourteen lines is a restriction that may feel inhibiting, especially when writing about trauma, I wonder if the act of breaking free in the turn will feel equally liberating.

And with all our voices, each little song builds to an overpowering symphony.