Kathy Morrell is deeply interested in literature. She used to work part-time with Yorkton This Week. She’s an avid reader. But one of her favourite mediums is the memoir.
Morrell has ghostwritten memoirs for people. She’s also put pen to paper for her own life stories. She thinks the memoir provides the perfect outlet for preserving personal tales for future generations.
“[It’s] a legacy for families,” she said. “[People] have a desire to record their life stories.”
Morrell is bringing her love for memoirs to Yorkton later this month. The Saskatoon-resident is leading the “Telling Your Past - Introduction to Memoir Writing” workshop on Sept. 29 from 9:30 a.m. to noon. The Yorkton Film Festival is hosting the event as part of Culture Days across Saskatchewan.
“There’s a huge interest in people telling their own stories,” Morrell said.
Morrell will offer tips and tricks to crafting a compelling memoir. Workshop participants are encouraged to bring a significant memento to spark inspiration for the memoir process. Morrell said she’ll guide writers with their work, but they’ll have to make the biggest decisions for their writing.
“People who come to the workshop have to determine [what they want to say],” she said.
In Morrell’s opinion, the hardest part of the memoir (derived from the French word for “memory”) is recalling parts of your life in crystal-clarity. Two people could experience the same moment and they could both remember it in completely opposite ways.
“People have different memories of events,” Morrell said. “That’s the most difficult thing.”
Morrell thinks the memoir serves an important function as a historical document and a familial gift. Families enjoy connecting to their loved ones by reading the human and personal stories in memoirs.
“Families like to know what’s gone on in the past,” Morrell said.
The memoir workshop is free to attend. Participants need register for the class by calling 306-782-7077 before Sept. 28.
