June Writing Workshop

Hidden But Not Forgotten

The first time I visited the Danish countryside, I remember being on a train and looking out at the stone houses with their thatched-roofs and having an “ah ha” moment: this is where the fairytales of my youth come from.

I have a Danish connection on both sides of my family. My father’s mother, Ellen, was born in Copenhagen and immigrated to the United States as a young child. My mother’s mother, Hana, found refuge in Denmark during the Holocaust. If I had to choose a country of origin I feel most connected to — it would be there (although Italy is a close second having carried the name Cerrotti and an affinity for carbs my whole life).

Traveling by train in Denmark in 2013.

I’ve spent months that have turned into years creating a life for myself in Denmark. It’s never been a permanent place of residence, but it is the home of some of my most important relationships and memories. And in developing that relationship with where I come from, my love for fairytales, particularly those of Hans Christian Anderson which my mom read to me as a kid, has grown stronger.

This month’s writing workshop is inspired by two of the famed storyteller’s stories. The first is titled The Songbird of the People. The story takes place in winter as a storm approaches. “The ground is covered with snow and looks like the white marble that is hewn out of the mountains,” Anderson begins his description of the scene.

He then tells us: “We are sitting inside around the stove in the living room, talking of olden times. Now we are listening to a saga that opens on the seacoast, where there was an ancient burial mound.”

As that story within the story gets told, it is shared that by the end a songbird appears.

“We heard its song while we sat in the warm room, with the snow falling outside and the storm increasing. We hear not only of the tragedies of heroes, but the bird sings softer songs as well: tender love songs, ballads of fidelity and loyalty. They are like fairy tales told in melody and words. They are like the proverbs of the people, like the magic runic letters that can give life to a dead man’s tongue and make him tell us of his home.”

I read this short story over and over again, trying to decipher the layers of tale-telling. Then a few stories later in my big 1000+ page book of Hans Christian Anderson’s fairytales, there was a story titled Hidden But Not Forgotten. That story didn’t capture my senses in the same way, but the title replayed itself in my mind for so many days that I’ve decided to follow the thread and center my next writing workshop around it.

I invite you to join me and fellow writers on June 29th for this workshop. For those unfamiliar, workshops are a chance for writers of *all experience levels* to come together in community to think, feel, and document our world as we are experiencing it. My hope is that this space can offer a pause from the chaos of daily life and a chance to do some generative, free-flowing writing. There will be an emphasis on memoir and family history throughout the workshop, but the prompts and exercises will be broad enough that you as the writer can choose where to take them. Ages 14 and up are welcome and first time writers are encouraged to join!

Details are below and you can find more information on my website: www.rachaelcerrotti.com/writing-group.

Info for the upcoming workshop is below:

Date: Sunday, June 29, 2025 from 4-6:30pm EST

Theme: Hidden But Not Forgotten. We will use poetry, book excerpts, fairytales and prompts to explore the topic.

Location: Zoom. I’ll send the link and a reminder email the week before.

Fee: $135. If you're a paid subscriber to my Substack, have worked with me as a story coach, or have joined a previous workshop, the fee is $100. (If the cost is prohibitive for you, please reach out and let's discuss a way to make it work).

To Sign Up: To reserve your place, please email me at rachaelcerrotti@gmail.com with the subject line: JUNE WRITING WORKSHOP 2025. Include the name of the participant, the location, and if there is any helpful or relevant information for me to know. You can also sign up through my website.

The class will be capped at 10 participants. If you are unable to attend after signing up, you can transfer your spot to someone else but I will not be able to refund the cost.

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A Prompt from Last Month’s Workshop

Theme: Freedom

My May workshop was themed Freedom and one of the prompts we used was a poem by Rupi Kaur. In my own response to the prompt, I ended up writing about my paternal grandmother, Ellen. She is the one who was born in Copenhagen. I don’t write about her often and am grateful that Kaur’s words about the questions she has about her own mother’s history led me to a place of thinking about a grandmother I haven’t spent much time with.

For my paying subscribers, I am including the poem, the prompt and my personal response below.