WALPOLE, N.H. – Memoir workshops with Pam Bernard are a series of writing and reading workshops for those interested in transforming the deep exploration of experience into a convincing and compelling story. These workshops are not a competitive sport. Each writer is encouraged to participate at his or her own pace and comfort level.
Apprehending experience and shaping it into a piece of writing that carries meaning to the reader is the best antidote for today’s steady diet of mediocrity, of the continuous flow of information devoid of wisdom.
However, as Vivian Gornick says, “Penetrating the familiar is by no means a given. On the contrary, it is hard, hard work.” Unlike any other mode of writing, memoir demands a kind of honesty that cannot be faked or manufactured. Rather, a successful narrative will rise from raw experience, but transcend that experience by virtue of, and in direct relation to, the writer’s willingness to honor her life.
The memoir that cannibalizes experience with the intent to sensationalize, or settle for mere recollection of past events, is stubbornly transactional. Whereas, the memoir that reveals a writer undertaking the task of self-examination, with an eye to shaping experience through memory and imagination, invites the reader’s intimate engagement.
But the memoir writing process demands that a writer redefine the act of remembering, and in that way redefine what memory is. Striving for perfect recall encourages the writer to be a transcriber, rather than a storyteller. Delight in the moment when memory becomes story.
“You own what has happened to you,” Bernard says, “and this includes what you remember. No one else can claim that. William Zinsser was so right when he said that no one has a monopoly on the shared past.” These workshops are a potent, meaningful way to excavate that calcified past and bring it into the light.
A retired professor of writing, Pam Bernard is an author, editor, writing mentor and instructor. She works also one-on-one with writers of nonfiction and poetry in a variety of ways. Bernard is the author of four books, the latest a novel in verse titled “Esther.” She received her master’s of fine arts in creative writing from Warren Wilson College, and bachelor’s degree from Harvard University. Her awards include fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Massachusetts Cultural Council. Her collection “Across the Dark” was a finalist for the National Poetry Series.
Workshops are hybrid, using the Owl meeting device, to accommodate those who must attend remotely. For more information, including days and times, please visit Bernard’s newly designed website at www.pambernard.com, email pam@pambernard.com, or call 603-756-4177.