Workshop - Bringing Empathy and Compassion to Your Memoir - Bill Drake - June13

How can you bring empathy to those characters that are hard to write about in your memoir? How do you soften the human tendency to present your personal story in terms of right and wrong? How do you decide how much difficult or controversial material to share about yourself and others? This presentation and workshop will explore these subjects. The focus will not be on writing style but rather on ways to broaden one’s perspective. There will be short exercises and group discussion.

Bill Drake was born in 1945 and grew up in the Jim Crow South, where blacks sat in the back of the bus. His ancestors included three generations of slave plantation owners and a Civil War hero, and he was raised to be a Southerner who believed in white supremacy. Bill is the author of Almost Hereditary: A White Southerner’s Journey Out of Racism, which is part memoir. His book deals with difficult aspects of both his family history and his personal history. Not all of his relatives were happy with it.

Sierra Writers Meetings are held the second Wednesday of each month and are FREE and open to the public. [No meetings are held in July, August, and December.]

Wednesday, June 13th

6:30 - 8:00 p.m.

Open Book 671 Maltman Drive Grass Valley

530-273-4002

Nevada County Arts Council Public Meeting