Storytelling
Grief
Nurture your inner writer, creative, and keeper of stories. Immortalize the experiences that have shaped you.
A 6-week class to help you preserve the stories you can't (won't) lose to time, and cultivate a writing ritual that transforms memory into lasting legacy. Through dedicated writing practice, relevant and expansive prompts, group sharing, and genuine feedback, you'll honor your creativity, learn to trust your voice on the page, and build community around the sacred work of story-keeping.
Taught by Dr. Melissa Delizia
(Writer, Doctor of Social Work, & Certified Professional Coach)
Mondays from September 29 - November 10
(No class October 13)
10am - 12pm Mountain / 12pm - 2pm Eastern
Storytelling Grief
When we write our stories down, we're participating in one of humanity's oldest and most essential arts.
Even before writing, the oral tradition carried our most important experiences across generations. The stories that are preserved now become part of the foundation that future generations build upon - shaping their understanding of where they came from, what their ancestors valued, and how to navigate their own experiences. This has never been about just capturing memories, but creating a legacy that informs, comforts, and guides those who follow in the storytellers footsteps.
Whether you want to write your story or the story of someone you love - whether it wants to emerge as a novel, a collection of poems, a screenplay, or something else entirely - whether you have previous writing experience or just want to capture a story that no-one else can - you have the freedom to craft how your story gets told.
Our Weekly Themes
weeks 1 & 2
Finding Your Voice & defining your project
weeks 3 & 4
Building your Practice & keeping momentum
Weeks 5 & 6
cultivating writing community & collaborating
This isn't a class with rigid modules or predetermined outcomes. Instead, we move through natural themes that flow from one week to the next, creating space for your story to emerge organically. Each week will follow the same gentle rhythm, guided by prompts that shift to match the evolution of our individual projects. We will bookend each session with an open sharing circle and an opportunity to give and receive feedback in the spirit of care.
In our early weeks, you'll ease into the rhythm of putting words to page - exploring different approaches to storytelling, getting comfortable with your unique voice, and beginning to define your project. The middle weeks will focus on building a writing ritual that can sustain your momentum even when the words feel stuck - deepening your relationship with the page. Our final weeks will celebrate the gift of collaborative writing, emphasizing the importance of ongoing community support.
this session is for you
•
this session is for you
•
this session is for you • this session is for you •
This is a writing-heavy class built around the belief that writing is a devotion - not a perfect art.
We gather not as polished writers seeking critique, not as distinguished poets and authors, but as beautiful, flawed humans with stories to tell. Your willingness to show up matters more than any credential or experience. This class invites you to lay your perfectionism at the door, and simply bring the courage to put your stories on the page in the way only you can.
Nurture your inner writer. Become a storykeeper for your lineage. Transform your memory into art.
Join us to develop a sustainable writing practice that honors writing as ritual, creativity as healing, and community as witness. Through carefully crafted prompts, generous in-class writing time, and supportive feedback circles, you'll discover what happens when you give your stories the time they deserve.
Mondays from September 29 - November 10
(No class October 13)
10am - 12pm Mountain / 12pm - 2pm Eastern
Select the payment tier below that suits you best
Extended payment plans through PayPal, Klarna, and Afterpay.
Tier One
For those facing financial constraints who are stretching to participate
Tier Two
For those with stable finances who can participate without strain
Tier Three
For those with financial abundance who wish to actively redistribute
Melissa
Your teacher
Melissa Delizia, MSW, LSW, DSW (she/they) is a death doula, educator, professional coach and social worker whose work lives at the intersection of sacred care, transformative education, and social justice. With a Doctorate in Social Work and certifications in grief companionship, deathcare, and sacred ceremony, Melissa brings both clinical insight and spiritual depth to their offerings.
Their practice is rooted in ancestral connection, mediumship, and energy work, with a focus on holding space for queer and trans individuals navigating death, dying, and grief. Melissa approaches this work with reverence, tending to the liminal with embodied presence and a belief in the healing power of collective care and ritual.
As an educator and adjunct professor, they are dedicated to reshaping how death is taught and understood—centering marginalized experiences, challenging systems of harm, and cultivating spaces where grief and identity are honored in all their complexity. Whether teaching or learning, Melissa holds a deep commitment to equitable deathwork and heart-centered education.
Our Teaching / Learning / Creating Style at La Mort
We leave behind the polished, gate-keepy approach to education. We teach in ways that carry story and experience. We listen. We laugh (a lot). We go off-script sometimes. We cry (with you)(for those you’ve loved)(for those we’ve loved). We like science and studies and logical frameworks, but also mysticism and poetry and all that stuff. We really love to honor history and those who came before. We move through some serious curricula, but don’t take anything too seriously. We dedicate ourselves to seeing you, and want you to feel seen. We deeply honor our intuition and yours. We lead with integrity (always). And we welcome the odd-balls and misfits, because it takes one to know one.