Join us to reinvigorate your relationship with the written word! Together we’ll explore the real stories of change in the lives of memoir authors.
Just as deeply as our DNA’s unique chemical code guides our health, growth, and development at the cellular level, so do our reading and writing habits. They influence our life choices. We will decode these sequences to consider the range of possibilities operating in our own stories too.
How do known narratives shape our expectations, assumptions and ambitions?
The meanings we glean from shared stories are as much a part of our common ancestry as the intertwining human genome.
To tap into the universal fundamentals, we will investigate twelve memoirs, one per month.
In January we begin with Tolstoy and the Purple Chair by Nina Sankovitch. Grief drove this former environmental lawyer to return to reading, with a passion. We will look at how this healed her, and what else changed in her life, after she made the commitment to read one book per day.
More details about this program will be emailed to registrants. First month is free for members and non-members. After trial period, cost is $10 per month. This includes two live Zoom sessions and emails in-between meetings. Members are responsible for sourcing their own copies of each featured memoir.
· First Monday of the month, we meet on Zoom to discuss why each book was chosen.
· Second Monday, group emails share participants insights about what they’re reading.
· Third Monday, Zoom meeting covers the DNA questions raised by the book.
· Fourth Monday we share our draft reviews, via email, and next book selection.
The DNA of True Stories explores the qualities of memorable memoirs, their elemental features, impacts, and story telling techniques. What makes them comparable? Which insights make a true story great?
How does a book keep us engaged? Why are memoirs transformative?
Facilitator:Cynthia F. Davidson is a long time faculty member of SCN. She teaches the eight week overview course Would I, Could I, Should I Write a Memoir?
A former CBS News journalist, her memoir The Importance of Paris won an IPPY award.
2023 & Me is a brand new program. We are celebrating the transformational powers of true story telling by reading, writing and reviewing memoirs by, for and about women.