Event

Deckle Edge Workshop - Writing Memoir: The Art of Editing Your Life

About the Workshop:
In this workshop participants will explore techniques for finding their own stories and choosing the best gateways to their narratives. They will look at various examples of what works from successful memoir authors and answer tough questions about their own personal histories and motives for writing about them. The outcome/product of this workshop will be An understanding of how to find your voice in memoir; decide on your story's beginning, middle and end; take creative license without lying; shape family and friends into "characters"; lend humanity even to people who've wronged you; avoid being sued while still maintaining your integrity. A deeper understanding of memoir as a genre: it delves into one slice of your story and the events and people who shaped that slice. Crafting a memoir involves being willing to edit your life to shape a deliberate and compelling narrative arc with a unifying theme. Memoir writing is an empowering genreit enables you and others to find themselves through storytelling. This workshop is best suited for memoirists, writers at all levels of experience, and creative non-fiction writers.

About the Instructor:
S. Jane Gari lives in Elgin, South Carolina with her husband and daughter. Three adapted chapters from her memoir, Losing the Dollhouse were nominated for the Pushcart Prize. The first chapter of her forthcoming novel, Shakespeare's Daughters, has also been nominated for a Pushcart. Her Idiot's Guide to the Healthy Gut is slated for a June 2016 release with Alpha Books (a division of Penguin/Random House). Jane has also co-written Flush This Book, a collection of humorous essays.