Whether you've inherited boxes of letters, photos, artifacts, and documents, or only a few stories passed down to you, this multi-genre workshop will help you begin to shape the raw material of family history into an engaging and artful text. Drawing on her experience in writing essays, poems, and, most recently, The Tribal Knot: A Memoir of Family, Community, and a Century of Change, Rebecca McClanahan discusses the challenges and rewards of family history writing and offers suggestions for the journey. Specific topics include selecting and arranging significant details, fleshing out characters, providing historical or cultural context, employing speculation and reflection, choosing the best structure, and discovering themes and patterns of meaning.

1 day workshop

Thursday, April 25, 2013
9:00 a.m. to Noon

**You will receive a copy of Rebecca's book The Tribal Knot: A Memoir of Family, Community, and a Century of Change with  your registration.

Who should attend? Anyone interested in family or cultural history, memoir, or the writing craft

Workshop Leader: Rebecca McClanahan has published ten books of nonfiction, essays, poetry, and writing instruction, including Word Painting: A Guide to Writing More Descriptively. Recipient of a Pushcart Prize, the Glasgow Prize in nonfiction, and literature fellowships from New York Foundation for the Arts and North Carolina Arts Council, McClanahan conducts readings and workshops throughout the United States and teaches in the MFA programs of Queens University (Charlotte) and Rainier Writing Workshop (Tacoma).

For The Tribal Knot details and excerpts: http://www.mcclanmuse.co/