Some people say history moves in a spiral, not the line we have come to expect.

-Ocean Vuong, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous

What family stories do you carry with you? What stories are most important to preserve? Stories are the core of defining the human experience, and one of the deepest human instincts is to tell our life stories and the stories of those who have shaped our lives. This interactive workshop explores the ways that giving language to generational histories inform and provide meaning to the present. Participants will explore the themes of family, memory, and place through sample narratives and a series of short writing exercises to gain a deeper awareness of the connection between personal, generational, and communal histories.

About the Presenter:

Maura MacNeil is a writer, editor and teacher. She is the author of the poetry collections: A History of Water, Lost Houses, and This Last Place. Her poetry, nonfiction, and critical writing has been published and anthologized in numerous publications over the past three decades, and her writing has been translated into Mandarin and published in China as part of the Pastoral Poets movement that uses poetry and literary scholarship to bridge the two continents. She serves on the board of the Monadnock Writers’ Group, and for over two decades she has taught writing and literature at New England College in Henniker, New Hampshire.