Hello readers and writers,
I think it’s safe to say we live in a strange world - Dickens said it was the best and worst of times, and I can see how that’s true of most eras.
We’re going round the moon and we’re blowing up countries here on earth; we’re developing crazy wonderful life-saving medical advances and we’re starving populations; we’re discovering new species and more are going extinct; people are being born and people are dying. Amidst all of this great change there are small lives being lived in the every day. People who are living and loving and learning and surviving and healing and growing. There’s a poem by Jess Janz that I love that I wanted to share.
Each of us has a story to tell about how we’ve made our way in the world so far. What the world has meant to us, and what we think. We remember things, they shape us. People do things to us, or things happen to us and we have to process them.
Life writing like journalling and memoir and autobiography is important. Vitally important. It can help to shape your own feelings about your experience. It improves your mental health. It can help others relate to the world in a new way. It can build empathy and compassion and we need that so much right now.
The world needs your words, and your story.
At the same time you might not know where to start or what questions to ask to help guide you with what to put in and leave out. You might feel overwhelmed by structure or have a clear one in mind but need help with the ordering of your story.
That’s what the April workshops will look at. We’ll explore some great examples of memoir, some of the central tenets of a strong piece of life writing, and how you can use your life experiences to write fiction.
The in-person workshop takes place in Cape Town on 18 April from 9am to 1pm. The cost is R500. Spots are limited to 12 people total.
The online workshop takes place on Zoom on 24 April from 9am to 1pm. The cost is R400. Spots are limited to 20 people total.
If you have a story you need to tell, I’d love to help you get the words on the page. For you. For all of us.
Jen
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