upcoming event nov 2nd - 25th
Contact: Frank Juliano, GAC Executive Director, 203-622-3998
Cathie Fuhrmann, Assistant to the Director
Co-sponsored by the Greenwich Arts Council and Greenwich PEN Women
MEMOIR WRITING WORKSHOP
With Westport Writer Jessica Bram
Thursday, November 9
10 a.m. to 12 noon
Seating is limited; cost is $10
For anyone who has ever had the urge to finally set down the story of his or her life – either for a
published memoir or simply to leave a legacy to one’s children and grandchildren – this workshop
may be just the opportunity you need to get started.
Westport essayist and commentator Jessica Bram will offer a 2-hour workshop for those who would
like to venture into the joyful and rewarding experience of memoir writing. Geared to those with
no writing experience, writers who may already have or work in progress, or those who have just
done some scribbling, this workshop will encourage and inspire.
After discussing various approaches to memoir, autobiography, and personal essay writing, Jessica
will guide participants through the techniques that help open the doors to creative expression of
one’s personal stories. She will outline many of the writing techniques that make the material
interesting and enjoyable, and describe common pitfalls.
Finally, in this interactive workshop, participants will be given a brief exercise to allow writers to
begin writing their memoir. After a brief writing time, participants will be invited to share their
beginning work in an environment that is encouraging and supportive.
While no advance preparation is necessary, participants are invited to bring work that they may
already have in progress to share with the group.
Jessica Bram is a writer and commentator whose work has been published and syndicated in
national and regional newspapers and magazines, including The New York Times, Child Magazine
Women’s Journal, Country Accents and the Gannett Newspapers. Her essay “Beauty Calls”,
published in the New York Times Magazine’s HERS column, was widely syndicated and included in
the Simon and Schuster college text, Writing and Reading Arguments: A Rhetoric and Reader.
Today her commentaries are regularly heard on the National Public Radio station WSHU during
NPR’s “All Things Considered” and “Morning Edition.”
In addition to her private workshops conducted in Westport, Jessica Bram has taught courses in
memoir, essay, and creative nonfiction at Norwalk Community College, NCC’s Extended Studies and
Workforce Education program, Westport Continuing Education, and the Lifetime Learners Institute.
For more information please call the Greenwich Arts Council office at 203-622-3998
or check the GAC website at www.greenwicharts.org.
The Greenwich Arts Council promotes the arts by nurturing artists and building audiences
