WORKSHOPS

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Forthcoming:

"Writing Your Memoir"

Ghost Ranch

Abiquiu, New Mexico

Weeklong: April 16 - 22

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Memoir Writing Workshops:

Thomas Larson has given two-hour, all-day, and weeklong workshops at bookstores, writing centers, libraries, writers' guilds, private groups, and universities for beginning and advanced memoirists throughout the United States.

From 2007 to 2011, venues include:

MFA Low-Residency (Ashland, OH);

The Writers' Workshoppe (Port Townsend, WA);

Warwick’s Bookstore (La Jolla, CA);

Ghost Ranch (Santa Fe, NM);

Ghost Ranch Fall Writing Festival (Abiquiu, NM);

St. Louis Writer’s Guild;

Lancaster (PA) Literary Guild;

Writers’ Center of Indiana (Indianapolis, IN);

Mobile Writers Guild (Mobile, AL);

Bookpeople (Austin, TX);

Houston (TX) Public Library;

Palm Springs (CA) Public Library;

Book Passage (Corte Madera, CA);

Margaret Mitchell House (Atlanta, GA);

OLLI Memoir Writers (Auburn, AL);

Clemente Program (Port Hadlock, WA);

Wordstock (Portland, OR);

Kansas City (MO) Public Library;

Columbia (MO) Public Library;

The Loft (Minneapolis, MN);

Worthington Library (Columbus, OH).

 

Prior Appearances (an example):

Lancaster Literary Guild

Writing the Memoir: Extended Workshops Print E-mail
Memoir Writing Workshops

An extended workshop (weekend or weeklong) begins with the following description.

Many of us have lived fascinating lives whether inwardly or outwardly, during childhood long ago or as adults in the last decade. But when it comes to writing a memoir, where do we begin? The day of our birth? The day we left home? The beginning or end of a relationship? Memoir is most successful when it is not the “story of a life,” but a focused part of that life—a dozen summers spent working on a grandfather’s farm; a long relationship with a dying relative; the first year of law school.

In “Writing the Memoir,” we discuss how to choose a subject, plan, focus, and begin a memoir. What makes for good subjects in memoirs? Examples include a relational memoir, one focused on mother and daughter or father and son; a memoir of passionate interest, a love of reading or mountaineering; a memoir of a phase or era, time spent in Mexico, a divorce, the death of a favorite uncle. We also explore the differences between autobiography and memoir and address the idea of self-disclosure.

There is time for multiple writing exercises in recalling people, places, and events, readings from published memoirs, discussion of the tension between emotional and factual truth, ideas about truth-telling for memoirists, one-on-one sharing and critique, and advice on publishing. The goal will be to draft the material for the first chapter or for a section of a memoir.

  • Author photo, book cover, posters, and postcards are available upon request.
  • Venues must include desks or tables that accommodate participants.

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price: $100 per hour
typically I sell my book (PB: $15)

REFERENCES:

Brian Malloy, Education Director (612-215-2578), The Loft Literary Center, Minneapolis, MN: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Anita Skeen, Director, Fall Writing Festival, Ghost Ranch, Abiquiu, New Mexico: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Judy Reeves, former Director of San Diego Writers' Cooperative (The Ink Spot), 619-284-1343: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

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