Yvonne J. Medley is a journalist, author and founder of the Life Journeys Writers Club (DBA: Life Journeys Writers Guild). As a feature writer, her credits include: The Washington Times, The Washington Post, People, Gospel Today, The Urban Sentinel and many other publications. Medley is a recipient of a Maryland Governor’s Citation for her work in prison programs; and her novels, titled, God in Wingtip Shoes and Jubi Stone: Saved by the Vine were traditionally published. Medley’s novella, titled, The Prison Plumb Line was adapted for the stage and performed locally for the general public and behind bars.
She is the creator of the Life Journeys Writing Workshop series, and Literary Therapy℠, which is designed to positively impact life skills, academic skills, mental health, and to pave the way to positive-and-therapeutic creative self-expression—utilizing the literary arts and so much more. She has conducted and/or been involved in several critically acclaimed writing programs. Her screenplay, co-written with fellow journalist, Karen Bartelt, titled, The Number Hole, was a New York Writers Lab finalist. And she is most happy to have received recognition, the Drum Major for Service Award, from President Obama’s 2012 White House.
Medley was nominated a Woman of Impact (2015) by the Southern Maryland Women’s League and A Woman Trailblazer (2016) by her county’s Commission for Women. In 2007, she founded the Life Journeys Writers Club, Inc. (/LJWC/LJWG), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, that serves as an economic bridge of access to the literary arts. Her volunteerism, nonprofit efforts, and literary offerings have been highlighted in various news stories.
Under the LJWG, some of the workshops she’s conducted have been for the Maryland Writers Association’s 22nd Annual Writers’ Conference; MWA’s Annapolis Chapter; Maryland Humanities’ One Maryland: One Book, featuring Ray Bradbury’s science fiction masterpiece Fahrenheit 451 (sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts); The Reginald F. Lewis Museum of African American History & Culture; Baltimore’s Enoch Pratt free Library’s Writers Live! Series as well as workshops for schools, public libraries and churches. As a writer’s coach and editor, Medley’s gotten many writers to the finish line of authorship. She’s taught adult learners: English as a Second Language (ESL) and ABE (Adult Basic Education). Her photography has appeared in the Charles County Arts Alliance’s 2014 Spring Gallery Exhibit.
Upcoming is Medley’s collection of novellas and novel-lattes, titled, Two Old White Ladies in Africa: and Other Life Journeys (an excerpt, titled, The Counselors, can be found on iTunes and www.barnesandnoble.com). Medley’s ongoing productions of the Prison Plumb Line, A Lyrical Drama!—inspired by five real female inmates finding second chances—can be booked as tailored fundraisers for schools, churches, orgs, etc.
Medley is also currently working on a new screenplay, titled, Journey to Nowhere—A career woman, wife and mother, kidnaps her ailing grandmother from Philly, and from greedy relatives. Feisty grandma bucks the gesture. It’s Little Miss Sunshine, except grandma lives to teach vital lessons about womanhood, dignity, caregiving and survival.
