Write at CPL: When Everything Changed: Writing Your Marker Story

About this event

Adults: 18 and up. Join other aspiring authors this fall for Write at CPL, a series of workshops presented by our partners at Story Studio. This workshop will focus on writing your "marker story" and is led by Ellen Blum Barish. Writers of personal narrative use a metaphorical shovel, brush and precision instruments to dig around in territory of unreliable memory, searching for truths often lodged far below the surface. Marker stories are ones that tell about what changed everything that came after. Writing them is a journey combining memory and craft. In this workshop with instructor Ellen Blum Barish, we’ll read excerpts from marker stories in a variety of genres, talk about what makes them marker moments, and how to get started on our own. Ellen Blum Barish is the author of the memoir Seven Springs: A Memoir and the essay collection Views from the Home Office Window: On Motherhood, Family and Life. Her work explores themes of identity, family, and spirituality. You can find her essays and prose poems in The New York Times, Brevity, Tablet, Lilith, Still Point Arts Quarterly, Ritualwell, Five Minutes, Literary Mama, two Chicago Story Press anthologies, and on Chicago Public Radio. She is the founding editor and publisher of the literary publication Thread which earned four notables in Best American Essays and is actively involved in the literary community as a coach, teacher, storyteller, and her village’s fine arts commission. You can find out more at ellenblumbarish.com. Due to limited space, registration is required. Accessibility Need sign language interpretation or other accessibility assistance for this event? Please call (312) 747-8184 or email [email protected] to request accommodations. Requests must be made at least 14 business days before the event. Photo credit: c0fbf559, nappy.co