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Susan Carter Morgan: Words as Art

by | Nov 11, 2014 | Arts and Entertainment

Susan Carter Morgan with her letterpress printer. “I am fascinated by how type and space interact; how design impacts the message we’re trying to send out.” Photo copyright Susan Larson/Front Porch/Fredericksburg Today

Susan Carter Morgan had an affinity for writing even as a child. The co-founder of Water Street Studio, Writing and Arts remembers walking around her neighborhood when she was about nine, selling newspapers she’d hand-produced.

Today, Morgan shares her love of writing through workshops at Water Street Studio. “We focus on strengths and not weaknesses,” she said of her classes. The language used in critiquing can create an environment that makes people feel safe, and stimulates creativity, she said.

Morgan and her Water Street art partners Elizabeth Seaver and Lynette Reed were members of LibertyTown Arts Workshop when they became friends. They started taking about how cool it would be to have a writing and arts studio. “At first those kinds of talks are always dreams,” Morgan said. But then a friend told them about the space available at 915-A Sophia Street. “We walked in and started envisioning ourselves there,” she said. They opened Water Street Studio on October 1, 2013. The trio hosted a first anniversary party last month.

“I love connecting with people, sharing their experiences and telling their stories,” Morgan said of her writing. Her more recent works have been published in Emory Literary Magazine, Vine Leaves Literary Journal and The Nearest Poem Anthology. Her greater satisfaction, she said, is in being part of a community of writers and helping others with their writing.

Morgan’s workshops for children and teens include Writing Strategies, learning how to organize and produce solid writing; Creative Writing, a group for children eight and older who love to write stories and poems; and Illustrating My World, journaling with art/mixed media for middle-school girls.

Classes for adults include a Wednesday morning women’s writing circle, a once-a-month “Writing Workout” meeting, with the opportunity to read aloud whatever you’re working on and receive gentle feedback from the group, and workshops on specific topics, like memoir writing, with published authors.

Morgan herself is currently focusing on poetry. “I was distracted from creative writing by the work I had to do,” Morgan said of her family and career responsibilities, which included 16-years as a technology and writing teacher at Fredericksburg Academy. Retirement has provided the time to pursue more creative endeavors. Her love of words has expanded into letterpress printing.

Long fascinated with metal type, Morgan took an all day class, “to do something with this [interest] or get it out of my system,” she said. She was hooked.

In letterpress printing, a worker composes and locks movable type into the bed of a press, inks it, and presses paper against. The ink transfers from the type and creates an impression on the paper.

“I am fascinated by how type and space interact; how design impacts the message we’re trying to send out,” Morgan said. She has a letterpress printer in her studio at Water Street, where she makes cards and signs. She plans to typeset and print some of her poetry.

Morgan moved to Fredericksburg in the mid-1970s at a time “when downtown was disintegrating,” she said. “I love what’s happening now through the Fredericksburg Main Street Initiative (FMSI).” The nonprofit’s purpose is to preserve, enhance and promote Fredericksburg’s traditional commercial downtown. Morgan volunteered for a few projects and in October was elected to serve on the group’s Board of Directors. She’s using her writing skill there, too, in promoting the plans, programs and achievements of the downtown community she calls home.

This article was first published in the November 2014 issue of Front Porch Fredericksburg. It is reprinted here with permission.

For more about Water Street Studio, see: Water Street Studio, Writing and Arts Celebrates First Anniversary

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