Soul-Making Literary Competition 2008

Visit Soul-Making Literary Competition for further details on this contest sponsored by an extended community arts outreach program of the National League of American Pen Women, Nob Hill, San Francisco Bay Area Branch.

Deadline is November 30, 2008. Note that international writers are welcome to submit. There's a US$5 entry fee, which must be sent via traveler's cheque drawn on a U.S. bank.

Here's what they are looking for in the memoir category:

LINDA JOY MYERS MEMOIR PRIZE
Sponsored/Judged by Linda Joy Myers

One memoir per entry, up to 3,000 words. Judge's Comments: A memoir is a story that draws upon memory. Its plot, dialogue, scenes, and narration immerse me into the places, times, and characters of the story. It is not analysis or a list of things that simply happened. Meaning and an epiphany are part of a well-written memoir story, the "Soul-making " moment when everything changed. I want to be drawn into the new world of the story, eager to find out why I am reading it. Write the stories from your heart, write your memories and bring them alive. I look forward to reading your work.

Joan Sinclair publishes "Lieber Walter, Deine Margret" (Dear Walter, Love Margret)

Joan Sinclair, who attended one of my workshops at Varley Art Gallery, sends news that in late June she will launch her self-published epistolary memoir based on letters between her German mother, Margret Cohen-Tuteur, and Margret’s young beau from 1935 to 1940, Walter Roos. The Second World War separated Margret and Walter, and eventually each of them married another and had a family. Many years and thousands of miles later, they were reunited in Canada, widow and widower, during the final years of Margret's life. Walter, who had kept her letters, painstakingly translated each of them from German into English for this touching tribute, which is written by Joan and includes other writing by Margret. Lieber Walter, Deine Margret (Dear Walter, Love Margret) has been published for family and friends and, according to Joan, "for anyone who needs to be reminded that true love never dies and for those who enjoy a love story with a very happy ending." Joan Sinclair is a family mediator and counsellor.

Gail Rudyk to Host Summer Memoir Writers Club

Gail Rudyk, a regular participant in my online workshops over the past few years who has self-published (some of!) her memoirs, is looking for interested individuals to join a weekly summer memoir writers club, starting June 25th, near Balm Beach on Georgian Bay. Details appeared recently in the Midland Free Press:

Memoir Writers Club

Gail Rudyk, a self-published memoir writer, is offering a free, weekly, informal get-together for aspiring memoir writers. They will meet at her cottage, near Tiny Beaches Road and Concession 13, every Wednesday morning from 10AM till noon, starting June 25th.

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Do you want to share your stories with your children and grandchildren? Some people feel that if they haven’t survived a tsunami or some such tragedy, they shouldn’t be writing a memoir, but the truth is, everyone has a story to tell. You don’t want to leave your loved ones with unanswered questions. I wish I had asked my father about his childhood but it’s too late now. As I read somewhere this week, “When you’re gone, the library is closed.”

This is an opportunity to discover how to get started writing or to share some of your stories.

For more information e-mail me at Gail.rudyk@sympatico.ca or call on weekends 705-533-3852, and weekdays 905-881-0771.