If you write and yearn to change the world, the Power of Words Conference, Sept. 12–15, may be your mecca. Held at Goddard College in Plainfield, Vermont, the conference is the annual gathering of  the poets, novelists, songwriters, playwrights, storytellers, historians, and journalists who practice a new profession called transformative language arts. Practitioners do everything from teaching workshops on memoir writing to coaching people on how to tackle problems by writing. Transformative language writers also work with patients with chronic illnesses like multiple sclerosis. Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, D.C., even keeps a writer on staff to work with cancer patients. You can register at goddard.edu/powerofwords. For more information, see tlanetwork.org.

Diane Silver