WALPOLE, N.H. – Award-winning writer and mentor/coach Pam Bernard announces a new series of her popular memoir workshops, to begin the first week of September. Workshops are three hours, once a week, for eight weeks. Days and times vary from series to series.
Memoir is characterized by the exploration of the “I now” and the “I then.” There are almost always two versions of the writer on the page: the adult narrator who is telling the story, and the previous version of the writer – a previous, younger adult, or a child – who is a character in the story being told. Both need to be heard and to be revealed. To add to the complexity, each iteration of a writer’s former self also has a past. That self does not exist simply in the moment. Even a small child has an emotional history, no matter how unformed. These so-called craft considerations form the basis of Bernard’s approach to teaching how to shape a vivid and moving personal narrative.
Above all, developing an authentic, believable voice defines the memoirist’s core task. When writing about personal experience, a writer must locate that voice in order to tell her story with authority, but also the kind of vigor that brings experience to life. Katherine Clarke, professor emeritus at Antioch University New England, said, “Pam’s special gift is listening for the authentic voice of a writer to emerge. Her groups are designed to welcome and nourish this voice. When I began to write from my life, she heard me before I did.”
Bernard, a writer, painter, teacher, and writing mentor, is the author of four books, the most of recent a verse novel titled “Esther.” She received her Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from Warren Wilson College Program for Writers, and bachelor’s degree from Harvard University. Her awards include fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Massachusetts Cultural Council. Nimrod, Cimarron Review, and Valparaiso are among the many literary journals that have published her work.
Visit Bernard’s website at www.pambernard.com. For more information, including dates and times, email pambernardwriter@gmail.com (preferred), or call 603-756-4177.