Testimonials

"I’ve been a professional writer for more than 20 years, and specifically have worked as an art critic for the Boston Globe since 1995. I thought I knew how to write.

"I have been working for several years on a memoir, which I had taken to an independent editor for insight and advice. Lately I have been struck – every time we meet – at how much more concise and thorough Lauren’s advice is. I feel as if I’m taking a master class with her about how to shape a narrative. She is honest and forthcoming, aware of her own biases, and most importantly, she fosters a writing process that teaches students about themselves at the same time it teaches them about writing.

"I’ve had many writing teachers in my life, at Vassar College and during a year abroad with teachers from University College Dublin and Trinity College Dublin, not to mention several professional editors at the Boston Globe and other newspapers and magazines. I have learned more about the craft from Lauren than from any of the others. She’s remarkable."

-- Cate McQuaid, author of Communion (memoir-in-progress) and writer for the Boston Globe.

"Lauren Sarat helped me develop and refine the stories that grew into my autobiographical play Monocular Man, which I performed in several cities. My acting didn't win any awards, but my critics always loved the writing, and for that I credit Lauren's help. Her responses to my early and late drafts were brilliant, concise, honest, compassionate, and authoritative. She brings both her heart and brain to the coaching process, and writers -- beginner or experienced -- feel like they're in remarkably knowledgeable hands. They are. I look forward to working with Lauren on my next project."

-- R. Jim Stahl, author and performer of Monocular Man,

and creator of the Climate Future Film Festival

Dear Lauren,

I so appreciated what you said - about relaxing, about letting things be, and about moments being both everything and nothing.

You know, I know that is true, from my practice and open-hearted true perception, but I hadn't realized it about these photographs.

"I asked visitors to the gallery to help me understand what I'm seeing in these photographs of entangled woods and have been blown away by the response, from both friends and colleagues, but also from total strangers. I want to share one response - Lauren Sarat, a writer unknown to me who articulated more than I consciously knew about this work.

"I see these photographs as a relaxation of 'seeing' and 'vision'. Just let things be. Stop 'seeing'. What comes forth when we relax the perceptual apparatus are these moments of everything and nothing, but most importantly, what will overtake the planet when humans no longer insist on imposing their structures of all kinds upon it.'"

-- Mary Stuart Lang, photographer, personal email correspondence and Instagram post

"A story is only words on a page until the magic of editing happens. Lauren's masterful editing, wisdom and guidance helped to frame my story in a way that truly honored the writing journey as well as the subject matter. Without this support, the book may never have been published."

-- Amy White, author of Closer to Paradise: A Mother's Journey through Crisis and Healing