Marva K. Blackmore is well-known as organizer of the Tales for the Telling storytelling series at the McMillan Arts Centre.
Next week, she’s offering to teach others how to tell their own stories.
Blackmore, a local storyteller, writer, and editor, is offering a memoir-writing workshop on six consecutive Monday afternoons starting Monday, Feb. 15 and continuing until March 21 at the McMillan Arts Centre in Parksville. Each session will be held from 1-4 p.m.
Blackmore is past president of the Storytellers of Canada. An experienced storyteller and workshop leader, she will help guide workshop participants through the process of constructing their stories from their favourite and most vivid memories.
Using time-honoured techniques utilized by storytellers around the world, Blackmore will show participants how to apply those techniques to their stories. She will help students unleash their stories and capture them on paper. Once the stories begin to flow, she will then show participants ways to organize those stories to begin to create a memoir.
Blackmore has told stories across Canada and internationally on stage, and has learned from the folk tales how to construct stories that are interesting and draw the reader into the tale.
She has also spent the last few years helping people write and edit their memoirs and brings that experience to this workshop.
Participants can register online at www.eventbrite.ca (search for Memoir Writing in Parksville) or by visiting www.wordweaver.info/workshop. For more info, e-mail storyteller.marva@shaw.ca.
Registration and payment of the $100 registration fee is required in advance. Space is limited, so early registration is advised.
— Submitted by Marva Blackmore