The Hudson Valley Women's Writing Group, which includes seven talented women from various educational backgrounds, has released a new anthology of prose and poetry detailing the challenges and benefits of being “women-of-a-certain-age” in today’s society.

The anthology, titled Rethinking The Ground Rules, is the second such publication from this group. It explores topics “from the coronavirus to the cosmos to the craft of writing itself in varied works that offer journeys of re-examination and rule-breaking that will leave readers marveling at the restorative power of words,” according to publisher Mediacs Books.

The contributors include Kappa Waugh, who has been writing since she was a young girl and has a particular penchant for poetry, some of which were recently published in three issues of Legacies; Jan Zlotnik Schmidt, a SUNY New Paltz professor who has been published in many literary journals and has been nominated for the Pushcart Press Prize Series; Tana Miller, a teacher with a long history of championing literary instruction; Eileen Howard, a woman with a storied life of travel and career changes; Kit Goldpaugh, a lifelong writer and teacher who could never stray far from the written word; Colleen Geraghty, a published author and writing coach who has facilitated workshops for women writers in the Hudson Valley for many years; and Mary K. O’Melveny, A retired labor rights lawyer whose works have appeared in many publications in print and online.

“Seven writers/nine chapters/one book. Rethinking the Ground Rules does more than make us rethink. This volume with its journey through poems, both formal and free form; prose memoir, essay and hybrid writing gives us a chance to reorder our priorities. And to meditate on those things important to us which we have for the moment (or the past months) misplaced or felt that we have lost. It may bear witness to a darkened world, but then opens doors through which the light of our lives shines through. As readers, we should think beyond the idea of anthology and experience a cohesive, interconnected work from the ideas, the hearts and the free rein creativity of these gifted writers. The reader will be rewarded by revisiting often,” said Laurence Carr, author of Paradise Loft.

Samples of each woman’s work can be found at hudsonvalleywomenswritinggroup.com. The book can be purchased at local independent bookstores, but also at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and directly from the publisher (Jim@MediacsBooks.com). The group’s first published anthology, An Apple In Her Hand, published in 2018, can also be purchased through Amazon.