VIRTUAL -- Shaping Family History into Compelling Stories w/ Annette Gendler

    Do you have family stories in your head, a few trinkets you inherited, or a box of old family photographs, letters or family documents with which you always wanted to “do something?” Join author Annette Gendler for this workshop to explore different approaches to creating compelling stories from family history. We will study how artifacts such as letters and official documents can be used to develop a narrative, discuss different research methods, and look closely at how source material is transformed into a story. We will also practice writing short scenes and examine literary devices and structure to help shape our stories. About Annette: Annette Gendler is the author of the memoir Jumping Over Shadows, the story of a German-Jewish love that overcame the legacy of the Holocaust, as well as the handbook How to Write Compelling Stories from Family History. Her work has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Tablet Magazine, Bella Grace, and Kveller, among others. She has been teaching memoir writing at StoryStudio Chicago since 2006 and has led workshops at GrubStreet in Boston, WriteSpace Jerusalem and the American Writers Museum in Chicago. She has also served as writer-in-residence at the Hemingway Birthplace Home in Oak Park, Illinois. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Queens University of Charlotte and lives in Chicago with her husband and three children.    

    ModernWell

    Do you have family stories in your head, a few trinkets you inherited, or a box of old family photographs, letters or family documents with which you always wanted to “do something?” Join author Annette Gendler for this workshop to explore different approaches to creating compelling stories from family history. We will study how artifacts such as letters and official documents can be used to develop a narrative, discuss different research methods, and look closely at how source material is transformed into a story. We will also practice writing short scenes and examine literary devices and structure to help shape our stories.

    About Annette: Annette Gendler is the author of the memoir Jumping Over Shadows, the story of a German-Jewish love that overcame the legacy of the Holocaust, as well as the handbook How to Write Compelling Stories from Family History. Her work has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Tablet Magazine, Bella Grace, and Kveller, among others. She has been teaching memoir writing at StoryStudio Chicago since 2006 and has led workshops at GrubStreet in Boston, WriteSpace Jerusalem and the American Writers Museum in Chicago. She has also served as writer-in-residence at the Hemingway Birthplace Home in Oak Park, Illinois. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Queens University of Charlotte and lives in Chicago with her husband and three children.