Reclaiming La Madre: Writing the Dominican Mother Wound w/ Dariana M. Pichardo, LMSW, MPA

The Emerging Writers Track is designed for writers who are just beginning their journey — finding their voice, building their practice, and discovering the community that will carry them forward.

In Dominican culture, la madre is untouchable — la que se sacrifica, la fuerte, la que nunca se queja. She is revered, defended, and rarely questioned. But what happens when the story of strength has also required silence? When survival demanded emotional disappearance? When loyalty meant swallowing truth?

This generative workshop dares to examine the myth of la madre fuerte and the generational silences it carries. Through guided prompts and craft-based exploration, participants will interrogate inherited narratives of sacrifice, endurance, and obligation — and explore how those narratives shape identity and writing. This session does not seek to dishonor our mothers. It seeks to humanize them. To name the grief beneath the resilience. To give language to what was endured…