Join us for Opening Windows: Researching and Writing a Memoir, a five-week writing workshop starting in January! Published author and writing teacher Ron Rozelle will be leading the memoir workshop over the course of five consecutive Sunday afternoons, January 8 through February 5, from 2:00 PM to 4:30 PM.
The first and last sessions will take place in person at The Center (in the art studio) with the three middle sessions hosted over Zoom. Those who cannot attend in person will be able to take part in all sessions via Zoom if needed.
Tuition is $125 for adults and $100 for BFAC members, seniors 65+ and veterans. REGISTER NOW!
After participants get to know each other, the first session will include information and instruction about creative writing in general and the memoir genre specifically.
The focus will then turn to formulating your individual plan to write a memoir, including the following elements:
- Necessary research;
- Determining what to include and what to omit; and
- How to tie episodes together with a unifying theme to create a clear and interesting narrative.
Participants will also spend time critiquing the writing of their peers and receiving feedback on their own.
Rozelle believes the workshop will be helpful for writers anywhere on the memoir-writing timeline.
“Whether you already have a good start on your memoir or are simply considering writing one…or anywhere in between…this workshop will be an informative and inspiring step in your journey,” he says. “Everybody has a story to tell. Whether you envision yours as a work to submit for publication or something you’ll publish for yourself and/or family, friends and descendants, your story is as valid as anyone’s.”
Ron’s first book, a memoir titled Into That Good Night, was a short list finalist for a National PEN Prize and was named the second-best work of nonfiction of the year by the San Antonio Express News. He has written 10 more published books of fiction and nonfiction, including Description & Setting: Techniques and Exercises for Crafting a Believable World of People, Places, and Events.
In 2007, he was inducted into the Texas Institute of Letters and in 2017, was named the Sam Houston State University Distinguished Secondary Educator of the Year, the highest honor bestowed by his alma mater’s College of Education. Ron is currently writing a memoir about his mother that will be a companion volume to Into That Good Night, so he will not only be the leader of this workshop, but also an active participant.
