I’m delighted to be offering the webinar “Trauma and truth-telling in memoir: the risks and rewards of revealing secrets” on Nov. 16 from 2:00 to 3:15 PST. I’m doing it through the U.S. foundation and magazine Creative Nonfiction. I’ll be drawing on first-hand experiences from writing my memoir No Letter in Your Pocket and will include a Q&A. Click here for a full description and registration. Cost for early registration is only $15. All participants receive a copy of the webinar.
I’ll be offering a short webinar on Sunday, Sept. 11 for the creative nonfiction group of the Federation of BC Writers (FBCW). From 10:30 to 11:00 am, I’ll be sharing tips about revealing family secrets and will provide first-hand anecdotes regarding the challenges of writing my incest memoir No Letter in Your Pocket. A short Q&A will follow. Many thanks to the FBCW for inviting me to host this mini-session, which will cover legal, ethical, and other issues.
What can happen to a nonfiction story when you add a fictional narrator? Discover the pitfalls and benefits of this approach while viewing the 20-minute documentary A New Way: An Organic Garden Changes Lives.
I’ll be hosting a 1.5-hour seminar April 23 at the Banff Centre in Banff, Alta. It’s part of the 2016 conference hosted by Canada’s Creative Nonfiction Collective Society.
This workshop will reveal how creative nonfiction techniques on the page translate to the screen: what works, doesn’t work, and why. What are the similarities and differences in storytelling? I will screen three short films, including a five-minute personal essay and 4.5-minute inspirational poetic piece, and encourage participants to analyze and deconstruct them. The use of dialogue, structure, tone, voice, visual detail, and other elements will be examined. In addition, the workshop will include a short in-class written exercise.