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Memoir Generator: Life Stories for Writers 50+
If you have been thinking about beginning to write your life stories or if you have already begun writing memories of your life experiences and would like to continue exploring more ideas, this is the class for you!
"Write what should not be forgotten.” - Isabel Allende.
If you are over 50, chances are you’ve accumulated unwritten volumes of stories about your life and the lives of significant people you would like to remember. Maybe you are wondering, “What do I do with these stories? How do I begin to write these stories before I forget them? Should I? Do I need permission? How/ where do I put into words, the memorable stories of my life?”
In this class, you will find the place your words have been looking for. In fact, by the end of 10 weeks, you will have written (painlessly!) at least 20 stories and shared them with a supportive, non-judgmental and encouraging community of students aged 50+. This interactive writing workshop provides guidance and a supportive and responsive audience and offers participants of this age community opportunities for the intellectual growth, social interaction and engagement that you deserve.
This is a generative writing workshop. Each 3-hour session includes: a short warm up writing prompt, group discussion, theme-based sample poems or stories by emerging or published authors (including Stanley Kunitz, Sharon Olds, Marie Howe, Mark Doty), a weekly writing prompt, and individual sharing of stories aloud. We will also discuss how to use literary elements, text structures, point-of-view, and word choice in our writing. I will also share links to literary journals for those who would like to submit their finished pieces for publication. But no pressure!
What You Will Learn
First, you will learn to trust yourself, to stop censoring your voice and know that you have important stories to tell and that these stories of your life matter! You will also learn about the best way to make your stories come alive using sensory detail, story structure, dialogue, and other elements of craft that make your listener “lean in” and feel like they are experiencing the story in your voice.
(This is just a basic outline. Your writing needs will be revealed through each session, and I will respond and modify the lessons as the sessions progress)
Who Should Take This Class?
You know who you are! If you are over fifty and have been thinking about writing your own stories but need inspiration, support and “permission” to put your words on paper, or if you have already begun writing and need new ideas and help with craft and polishing your pieces, this is the class for you! If not now, when?
Instructor
Cindy Beer-Fouhy
Writing Institute Instructor
Cindy Beer-Fouhy is a poet, freelance writer, and arts consultant and has been teaching writing in schools and community facilities for over 50 years. Former founder and director of the Literary Arts Department at the Northern Westchester Center for the Arts and curator of the award-winning Creative Arts Café poetry series. Her poetry and essays have been published in literary journals, magazines and anthologies including Bronx Accent: A Literary and Pictorial History of the Borough (Rutgers University Press) and her articles and interviews have appeared in ArtsWestchester’s Arts News, Roll Magazine and Westchester Family. Her poems have been winners of the 2011, 2012 and 2013 Greenburgh Poetry Competitions. Cindy served as a judge for the National Jewish Book Awards in Poetry and has been a consultant for the Master of Arts in Writing program at Manhattanville College. She is on the advisory committee of the Hudson Valley Writers Center’s Slapering Hol Press and is a member of the National Writers Project. In addition to teaching in the Writing Institute at Sarah Lawrence, she is currently a Teaching Artist through ArtsWestchester, Lifetime Arts, Inc., and BOCES and facilitates Life Stories Writing Workshops in Senior Centers, Mental Health Facilities and Public Schools.