Over the next few months, the MSA Museum Society in Abbotsford is offering a series of lifewriting seminars designed to help aspiring memoirists, lifewriters, and family historians in the Fraser Valley.
The first event in the Lifewriting Made Easy program is a free two-hour information session on Saturday, Jan. 31 that provides an overview of the planning, writing, editing, and designing process along with a question- and-answer session.
Subsequent seminars include a three-hour session on book design and production ($30, Feb. 14), an all-day seminar on writing ($60, Feb. 28), and a three-hour session on interviewing family members and friends ($30, March 7).
The seminars will be held at the MSA Museum Society (Trethewey House) at 2313 Ware St. Parking is free and pre-registration is mandatory.
“Last autumn we sponsored two seminars, which were packed,” said Dorothy van der Ree, executive director of the MSA Museum Society.
“The feedback we received from the participants was overwhelmingly positive, and so we have decided to expand the program. It’s our hope that these seminars will help equip people with the necessary skills to successfully record and preserve their stories. They’re all part of our collective memory.”
Leading the seminars is Abbotsford writer/ editor/personal historian Philip Sherwood, whose company – lifewriters.ca – specializes in helping individuals, families, organizations and communities tell and preserve their stories in book form.
In addition to the seminars, the MSA Museum Society offers other services to lifewriters.
These include free one-on-one consultations, a list of do-it-yourself resources, and several fee-based services.
For more information about the seminars and to register and receive a syllabus, contact the museum at 604-853-0313, email info@msamuseum.ca, or visit msamuseum.ca.