Finding Your Footing: First Steps into Memoir

November 23, 2024, 9:30am – 4:00pm PST, online (Zoom)

Fee: $150

This one-day online workshop, limited to eight participants, is designed for those in the early stages of memoir writing who want a strong start developing their idea with an emphasis on content, style and voice. 

Perhaps you have an idea that has been clamouring to be told but you are unsure where to begin? Perhaps you have begun writing and are partway through a memoir but have questions about what to include and what to leave out? This interactive and participatory workshop uses writing exercises and group feedback to provide a supportive space for discussion, drafting, and revising to get you on your way. 

Participants are asked to arrive with an idea they are ready to explore. We’ll begin by discussing tactics and strategies that make for strong memoir writing. Then, you will draft a short piece and receive feedback from the group and the workshop leader. After a lunch break, you’ll write a longer piece based in a story you hope to include in your memoir, followed by another feedback session. The workshop will conclude with a discussion of practical next steps towards completing and submitting your memoir, whether as a short newspaper/magazine piece to an editor, or a book-length manuscript submitted to agents or publishers. 

This workshop is open to writers with all levels of experience, from beginners to those who have written extensively in other genres. 

Workshop Leader: Mark L. Winston

Mark L. Winston is the recipient of the 2015 Governor General’s Literary Award for Nonfiction for his best-selling book Bee Time: Lessons From the Hive, and an Independent Publishers 2019 Gold Medal IPPY Award for his book Listening to the Bees, co-authored with poet Renee Saklikar. His work has appeared in seven books, commentary columns for the Vancouver Sun, The New York Times, The Sciences, Orion magazine, and many other outlets.

As an award-winning writer and editor, Mark works with community writers to develop proposals and edit manuscripts for non-fiction writing, from newspaper opinion pieces to books. He was a founding faculty member in the Banff Centre Science Communication Program, developed and taught in Simon Fraser University’s Nonfiction for the Weekend Student course, and was the SFU Library’s inaugural Writer in Residence for Nonfiction 2020-2021. winstonhive.com

Registration

Registration opens to VMI alumni on October 1, 2024 and to the general public on October 15.

Two funded community access seats are available for those from marginalized communities or experiencing hardship. To apply, please fill out the short application section of the online application.