Lose Yourself in a Book

By ClaireBooth

It seems like there are bad things going on everywhere right now, so this Sunday I thought I’d show a good thing.

Have a seat. It’s a fully functional bench – but if you’re like me, you’d rather look at it than sit on it. It’s part of the Writers’ Garden at 916 Ink, a creative writing nonprofit that provides workshops for Sacramento area youth in grades 3-12, including many who are at-risk or vulnerable. Students go through workshops that transform them into confident writers and published authors. They have their stories or poems published in anthologies (complete with ISBN numbers) and participate in book readings for their family, friends and the public. These workshops instill a love of reading and a healthy dose of self-confidence in kids and teens.

Part of what 916 Ink offers is inspirational space. And that’s where this book bench sits. The artist who created this thing of beauty is Kerri Warner, a Sacramento-area mixed-media specialist who works a lot with local non-profits. She did several pieces for 916 Ink’s location, most of them book-related. If only every kid could have a chance to sit on something created by someone who obviously loves the written word.

*You’ll be hearing a lot more about 916 Ink later on. It’s one of the organizations chosen by the Sacramento Bouchercon 2020 committee. At the Bouchercon crime fiction convention in October 2020, held here in California's capital, we’ll be raising funds to help out this great cause.