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Christine O. Susany had lived in El Paso for 20 years when she moved to Farmers Branch to help care for her grandchildren in 2022. Within months, the 78-year-old was standing in the Manske Library with a question: Would they let her teach a volunteer writing class?
Three years later, 13 writers she mentored will launch their published anthology Saturday, Jan. 17, at the library where their creative family was born.
Susany's first workshop, "Meals, Memories, and Menus," drew a handful of participants. But when she offered a three-week course on nonfiction narratives in January 2023, something ignited.
"Everybody has a story to tell, but not everyone knows how to write it," Susany said.
After three weeks, participants weren't ready to stop. They asked to keep meeting monthly and named themselves the Tale Spinners, gathering every second Tuesday to share prose. A year later, poets split off to form Word Weavers, meeting the third Tuesday.
BJ Austin spent 40 years writing broadcast copy for radio, retiring from KERA, when she saw the class advertised in the library newsletter.
"I just thought, let me see if I can write something else," said Austin, who goes by BJ.
What started as hesitant readings became bold sharing.
"I think we've gotten over it in three years," Austin said. "Everybody's pretty eager to bring their stuff, present it and get feedback."
The group spans five decades. The oldest member is 80. The youngest just turned 30. A young man brings chapters of a novel in progress. The roster also includes former theater actresses, professors and Carol Dingmann, a recent Farmers Branch "Witness to History" award recipient.
In the large room to the left of the library entrance, their laughter echoes through the building.
"We just so enjoy each other," Austin said. "And everybody is so talented and willing to share whether it's a personal narrative or essay or rant or whatever."
Some meetings end in collective tears over heartbreaking stories. Others turn rowdy.
"We can be pretty raucous," Susany said. "And not at all afraid to throw out a few four-letter words, which is the honesty of expression."
After a year of meetings, Susany told the group something that surprised even her.
"I have found my people," she said. "I was sad to leave El Paso. I didn't know anybody here, and I found my people at the library."
When Marlene Woods returned from Malaysia last summer, where her husband had worked, she was searching for a creative community. The Farmers Branch native who attended R.L. Turner High School found it at her childhood library.
After attending several meetings, Woods recognized something special.
"I thought, 'Oh my gosh, these pieces are really awesome,'" said Woods. "I was like, hey, what if we just make a book?"
Woods had made books for her children before. She volunteered to navigate the Amazon Kindle publishing process while contributors selected their strongest work. There was no contest or judging, and each writer chose pieces that best represented their voice.
The title came from Susany's crossword puzzle habit. Arras is the Flemish town famous for medieval tapestries woven from spun yarns and silken threads.
"We're spinners and weavers," Susany explained. "So what do spinners and weavers do? They make tapestries."
Susany's teaching philosophy rejects rigid rules in favor of craft. Monthly lessons cover everything from 15-sentence character profiles to flash fiction, sonnets to free verse. But prompts are always optional.
"I can't teach you how to be creative, but I can teach you the craft so that you become your own artist," Susany said.
The anthology reflects the group's diversity. Austin contributed pieces about her late husband, a childhood family vacation and a minivan road trip with her dogs. Woods wrote about her Mexican grandfather's bedroom stacked with coffee sacks and her grandmother teaching her to embroider, memories that now inspire her business making handbags from upcycled coffee sacks with hand embroidery.
"The smell of a coffee sack takes me back to my childhood," Woods said.
For Susany, the published book matters less than the community it represents.
"Watching them gain confidence in themselves and more so watching a community grow, those writers have blended into a family," she said. "Sharing stories bonds us."
Both groups remain open to anyone interested in writing. Austin has advice for those who hesitate.
"Just go for it," she said. "I think that's how you stay young and growing."
Woods has been checking package tracking obsessively, eager for the books to arrive.
"Just opening a box full of books that you actually made, it's so wonderful," she said. "Just the smell, the look, the touch."
"ARRAS: A Tapestry of Prose and Poetry" is available in hardcover and paperback on Amazon. The launch party is 4-6 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 17, at Manske Library, 13613 Webb Chapel Rd. The event features readings by contributors, light refreshments and book signings. Attendees should bring purchased copies, as books cannot be sold at the library.
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