Free Online Class: Unlocking Memories and Uncovering Stories

Check out this free online presentation I’m giving next week:

Unlocking Memories and Uncovering Stories<

Sponsored by the Oak Park Public Library and the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) Oak Park Illinois Network

DATE: Thursday, May 12

TIME: 7 to 8:30 pm central time,

Author, journalist and teacher Beth Finke will lead a discussion on ways writing memoir and first-person narratives could apply –and benefit — the writing you do for children. Presentation is online and free to members and non-members of SCBWI.

Through observation exercises and writing prompts, Beth’s workshop will answer common questions about getting started, the difference between autobiography
and memoir, exposing family secrets, using pen names and pseudonyms, finding and working with publishers.

A fun and easy-going workshop to discover ways friends, family, celebrations, milestones, moments and place can be catalysts for unlocking memories and uncovering stories.

That’s the official invitation. Now back to me about how I got this gig. Children’s Book Author and Illustrator Sallie Wolf attended the Memoir-Writing Workshop I presented online for Chicago Public Library last winter and liked it. So much so that she contacted me afterwards to see if I’d do something similar for children’s book writers – this one sponsored by the Oak Park Public Library. “I’m hoping you could base it on the exercise you did in the memoir writing class I took,” she said.

The request was flattering, but a little perplexing. That winter workshop I gave was about writing memoir. Why would people who write children’s books want to know stuff about memoir-writing?

And then it came to me. I’ll ask children’s book author Sharon Kramer to present with me! Sharon Kramer’s book Time for Bubbe was published by Golden Alley Press! Many of you know Sharon from my mentioning her in Saturdays with Seniors blog posts here. She was a writer in the Me, Myself & I memoir-writing class I taught in downtown Chicago before COVID, and her Time for Bubbe book is a perfect example of how unlocking memories can lead to children’s stories. When I was still teaching Sharon’s memoir class and assigned “Write About a Grandparent” as a prompt, she came back with a story written in the voice of her grandson talking about visiting her mother (his great-grand-Bubbe). We all loved the piece and thought that, with a little revision, it’d make a great children’s book.

So Sharon got to work. She revised and rewrote, sent the story to publishers, Golden Alley Press took it on, a Yiddish glossary and Bubbe’s recipe was added, illustrator Michael Sayre gave it his special touch, and voila! Sharon’s masterpiece, Time for Bubbe is now available to order from independent bookstores or on Amazon.

I’ll be interviewing Sharon Kramer about her children’s book journey during the latter part of my presentation next week, she’s smart, thoughtful , witty and we always have a lot of laughs when we’re together. Join us! Link to the SCBWI event page for information on Zooming in at 7 pm central time on Thursday, May 12, 2022.