Calendar

NOTE: This session is canceled.

Limited to 15 participants. To register, visit tinyurl.com/ewml-memoir-art.

Join us for a writing workshop to tap your creative spirit and help you focus on meaningful periods and events of your life. You will learn to craft memories into prose or poems, through lively writing exercises and group discussions. Writing tools and prompts will help participants discover and explore their stories and distill the essence of experience. Memoir writing leads to deep self-reflection, as well as purposeful direction, and a greater sense of well-being as you explore the perplexing, humorous, nostalgic, and challenging experiences of your life. Give voice to those untold stories, and watch your life take on a new shape in this supportive, fun writing workshop. No writing experience necessary!

Facilitator Bio:
Laurie McMillan has an MFA in fiction and has led writing workshops for 21 years in all genres. She was the co-founder of the Pittsburgh Memoir Workshop, and several workshop series in venues as diverse as art museums, outpatient clinics, and at the VA. She believes that creativity and community in a safe and supportive environment can help writers do their best work. She is published in several magazines including American Journal of Nursing and the Healing Muse.

Limited to 15 participants. To register, visit tinyurl.com/ewml-memoir-art.

Join us for a writing workshop to tap your creative spirit and help you focus on meaningful periods and events of your life. You will learn to craft memories into prose or poems, through lively writing exercises and group discussions. Writing tools and prompts will help participants discover and explore their stories and distill the essence of experience. Memoir writing leads to deep self-reflection, as well as purposeful direction, and a greater sense of well-being as you explore the perplexing, humorous, nostalgic, and challenging experiences of your life. Give voice to those untold stories, and watch your life take on a new shape in this supportive, fun writing workshop. No writing experience necessary!

Facilitator Bio:
Laurie McMillan has an MFA in fiction and has led writing workshops for 21 years in all genres. She was the co-founder of the Pittsburgh Memoir Workshop, and several workshop series in venues as diverse as art museums, outpatient clinics, and at the VA. She believes that creativity and community in a safe and supportive environment can help writers do their best work. She is published in several magazines including American Journal of Nursing and the Healing Muse.

Limited to 15 participants. To register, visit tinyurl.com/ewml-memoir-art.

Join us for a writing workshop to tap your creative spirit and help you focus on meaningful periods and events of your life. You will learn to craft memories into prose or poems, through lively writing exercises and group discussions. Writing tools and prompts will help participants discover and explore their stories and distill the essence of experience. Memoir writing leads to deep self-reflection, as well as purposeful direction, and a greater sense of well-being as you explore the perplexing, humorous, nostalgic, and challenging experiences of your life. Give voice to those untold stories, and watch your life take on a new shape in this supportive, fun writing workshop. No writing experience necessary!

Facilitator Bio:
Laurie McMillan has an MFA in fiction and has led writing workshops for 21 years in all genres. She was the co-founder of the Pittsburgh Memoir Workshop, and several workshop series in venues as diverse as art museums, outpatient clinics, and at the VA. She believes that creativity and community in a safe and supportive environment can help writers do their best work. She is published in several magazines including American Journal of Nursing and the Healing Muse.

Limited to 15 participants. To register, visit tinyurl.com/ewml-memoir-art.

Join us for a writing workshop to tap your creative spirit and help you focus on meaningful periods and events of your life. You will learn to craft memories into prose or poems, through lively writing exercises and group discussions. Writing tools and prompts will help participants discover and explore their stories and distill the essence of experience. Memoir writing leads to deep self-reflection, as well as purposeful direction, and a greater sense of well-being as you explore the perplexing, humorous, nostalgic, and challenging experiences of your life. Give voice to those untold stories, and watch your life take on a new shape in this supportive, fun writing workshop. No writing experience necessary!

Facilitator Bio:
Laurie McMillan has an MFA in fiction and has led writing workshops for 21 years in all genres. She was the co-founder of the Pittsburgh Memoir Workshop, and several workshop series in venues as diverse as art museums, outpatient clinics, and at the VA. She believes that creativity and community in a safe and supportive environment can help writers do their best work. She is published in several magazines including American Journal of Nursing and the Healing Muse.

Come join local author, Carol Weis, for a reading from her memoir, STUMBLING HOME: Life Before and After That Last Drink. Carol will also answer questions about the book, her writing process and her own personal journey, as well as sign copies of her book for those who are interested.

Masks are required at this event.

Author Bio:
Carol Weis, who became a writer when she got sober, has been an actor, teacher, professional cook and baker, and for years, ran poetry workshops in local schools. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, AARP, The Independent, ESPN, Good Housekeeping, OZY, Cosmo, Salon, and numerous other venues, and has been read as commentary on NPR. She’s also the author of the Simon & Schuster picture book, WHEN THE COWS GOT LOOSE, and the poetry chapbook, DIVORCE PAPERS.

To RSVP for this event, please email ehampton@cwmars.org with your name and the number of people attending.

Jennifer will talk about what led her to co-author The #ActuallyAutistic Guide to Advocacy: Step-by-Step Advice on How to Ally and Speak Up with Autistic People and the Autism Community. She’ll go on to discuss general advocacy, then focus on family, work and educational topics. Q&A to follow.

This talk is in-person. Masks are required.

Please RSVP to slevine@ewmlibrary.org with the event name and number of attendees.

The #ActuallyAutistic Guide takes an in-depth look at the key elements of effective, respectful, inclusive advocacy and allyship. Every topic was chosen, shaped, and informed by #ActuallyAutistic perspectives. She and Jenna are currently writing, and collecting surveys for, their second collaboration, The #ActuallyAutistic Guide to Teen and Young Adult Advocacy and Activism: Step-by-Step Advice for Autistic Youth and Those Who Care About Them.

Author Bio:
Jennifer Brunton, Ph.D. is the co-author, with Jenna Gensic, M.A., of The #ActuallyAutistic Guide to Advocacy: Step-by-Step Advice on How to Ally and Speak Up with Autistic People and the Autism Community. A neurodivergent parent of an Autistic son and a neurotypical daughter, Jennifer is passionate about making the world a better place for people who think, learn, and experience life in unique ways. Her parenting blog, Full Spectrum Mama, has been advancing civil rights for all—with a focus on neurodiversity and intersectionality—for more than 10 years.

Registration is required. In-person with a max of 15 participants. Click here to register.

Do you have a sense of adventure, a desire to experience new vistas, a keen eye for detail and a storyteller’s flair? These are a few of the elements of the travel writer’s toolkit that Laurie will discuss in this travel writing workshop. You’ll practice in-class writing exercises to awaken the imagination and help guide your interest in writing about the places you’ve traveled or want to travel. You’ll walk away with some ideas to begin, methods to engage your reader, and stimulate your own sense of wonder! This is also a class for those who don’t travel but would like to armchair travel and write about what places intrigue them.

Facilitator Bio:
Laurie McMillan has an MFA in fiction and has led writing workshops for 21 years in all genres. She was the co-founder of the Pittsburgh Memoir Workshop, and several workshop series in venues as diverse as art museums, outpatient clinics, and at the VA. She believes that creativity and community in a safe and supportive environment can help writers do their best work. She is published in several magazines including American Journal of Nursing and the Healing Muse.

This program was funded in part by Emily’s Friends of the Library.

The Valley Bloomers gardening club offers an expert lecture from Marty Klein on the life cycles of mushrooms, their roles in the environment, and a few local species. This presentation will include a Q&A, and will take place on the lower floor of the library. Please remember to wear a mask.

Join local artist Dave Wallace (incendavery.com) to learn about their process for creating diary comics, and turn your own life into a work of art! Dave will lead participants through exercises that incorporate free writing, character creation, and scripting, before helping us put it all together into a finished comic. Space is limited for this in-person event, so please contact the Youth Department to register. Recommended for ages 9 and up.

Join local artist Dave Wallace (incendavery.com) to learn about their process for creating diary comics, and turn your own life into a work of art! Dave will lead participants through exercises that incorporate free writing, character creation, and scripting, before helping us put it all together into a finished comic. Space is limited for this in-person event, so please contact the Youth Department to register. Recommended for ages 9 and up.