Reports From The Field
From Burlington, Ontario, Gillian Hewitt writes: "Each month, I do a one-day lifewriting workshop at a local B&B. We use this century-old home's dining room, and have the parlour at our disposal also. My fee includes a lunch, and I get a lot of positive feedback: 'I learned so much today and I had such fun doing it, too!'
"One thing I have started doing is giving a homework assignment. After I introduce the group to the memory list and they do a little exercise on it, we share a few examples of what people wrote. Their homework is: by noon next Wednesday (one week away), make a list of 200 memories. Their reaction is the same as ours when Denis gave us this task--we didn't think we could do it. I ask them to call or e-mail me when their list is finished. Here are a couple of responses: "'I have completed a list of 200 memories and I found the task very helpful because I wrote 100 one-line memories about each of two periods of my life that I am about to write for my book. Having the 100 memories will be helpful because I can go through the list and tick off the ones I will be using and then organize them in order, etc.' "'I worked on the list of 200 memories on Sunday and found I had to categorize them into years or places. Otherwise my mind was all over the place. However, once I added some order to the exercise, I felt I could have gone on forever.' "It's a good feeling to know that I'm helping people to progress with their lifewriting." e-mail Gillian Hewitt at gmhewitt@sympatico.ca 
Jo'el Roth in San Diego writes that she has been chosen as the southern California representative for the Veterans History Project, in cooperation with the Oral History Association and the Library of Congress.She will present workshops to people taking part in the project, to teach them how to conduct an interview and how to preserve the information. "It has taken me a year to attain this assignment," she writes, proof that perseverance does pay off. e-mail Jo'el Roth at gypsijo@aol.com 
Kathy Lindquist has a group of writers eager to continue beyond the usual six-week workshop. Kathy is from Topsfield, Mass.
"I'm very pleased with the productivity of this group," she writes. "I have one woman in particular who has some heart-wrenching stories, but an incredible voice. I can sense the anticipation in the room when it's her turn to read." e-mail Kathy Lindquist at lklindquist@attbi.com What's new with you?
Send us details of upcoming workshops so we can include them in The Lifewriter's Digest, our companion newsletter for writers.
We're also looking for your ideas for workshops and solutions to problems you've faced as a teacher. Please send all submissions to memoirs@turningmemories.com |