Life Writing: An Introductory Memoir Workshop

Open to all

Limited to 12 participants

 

“Part of the art of memoir is seeing and recognizing the story itself.  Life is messy. Art gathers up the chaos and gives it form.” Dani Shapiro.

 

Our lives are filled with stories—experiences of joy, heartbreak, or transformative change. If you’ve always wanted to write down true stories from your life, here’s a place to begin. Whether you’re writing family tales for the next generation or describing life-changing moments for a wider audience, this workshop will help you find your voice and polish your prose. 

      Building a writer’s toolbox of basic narrative techniques helps shape personal episodes into stories that engage readers. Sessions will include discussion of short readings and tips for getting stories from your head and heart onto the page. Each week, two or three participants will be asked to email their drafts of a life-based story for peer feedback the following session. You will learn how to offer supportive feedback to your fellow writers in accordance with workshop guidelines. The workshop leader will provide written comments on submissions to help writers lift their first drafts to the next level.            

 

Karen Zey’s creative nonfiction stories, personal essays and craft articles have been widely published in literary magazines. Her work has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net, and featured in Getting to the Truth: The Craft and Practice of Creative Nonfiction (Hippocampus Books, 2021). Karen has led writing workshops and hosted literary events at her local West Island library. She belongs to a monthly writing group whose members first met in 2013 at a QWF workshop. Karen believes that emergent writers thrive by finding community in which they can explore craft and share writerly talk.

Visit: www.karenzey.com      

(Twitter @zippyzey)   http://twitter.com/zippyzey