“History isn’t just made by the people in the record books. It’s made by ordinary people living ordinary lives and telling the good parts,” said Janet Sunderland. She will be in Marysville February 18 to help people write their family stories.
Sunderland will lead a writing workshop, “Saving Grandpa’s Stories (and Grandma’s too!),” from 9:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. at the Lee Dam Center for Fine Art, Marysville. There is a $10 fee that covers the cost of lunch. To register people should contact Hannah Malotte at 785-713-1641 or mhmalotte@sbcglobal.net by February 15.
The Marshall County Arts Cooperative, the Marysville Public Library, and the Marshall County Historical Society are sponsoring the workshop.
In this full day workshop, the morning will be dedicated to instruction: finding an opening line; structuring the story; building details into the story. Sunderland will also give tips on how to jog stories from parents or grandparents who have memory loss. She will help participants learn how to use tools like a digital camera or a Smartphone to capture those stories.
The afternoon will be spent rewriting and polishing. “At the end of the day, we’ll celebrate by reading the stories we’ve created,” Sunderland added.
Participants may bring a laptop to work on; otherwise, they should bring their favorite writing materials.
“Lunch is being provided, but those participating may bring a family recipe for dessert and tell us a story that goes with it,” Sunderland said. “I always think of my grandmother’s hands rolling out sugar cookies. Those are stories worth recording in a family cookbook.”
On Sunday, February 19, at 2:00 p.m. Sunderland will present a reading of some of her work at the Koester House Museum.
“I plan to read some new poetry,” she said. “I also plan to read some essays from a new manuscript I’m working on, “Captured by Wind,” which anchors on wanderers and wind, especially the prairie wind. It includes a passage about my maternal great-great grandmother, Lucinda Moore, who traveled by covered wagon from North Carolina to Jewell County at the end of The Indian Wars.”
Sunderland is a memoirist and a poet. She serves on the executive board of Whispering Prairie Press. She’s also a professional actress, a member of SAG/AFTRA, and teaches Public Speaking and Writing.
To register or for more information people should contact Malotte.