Wendell Affield: Reawakening and Writing Memory Stories
72 years after he was born, Wendell Affield discovered who his biological father was and gained seven new siblings overnight. In this workshop, Affield will share the story of how he unearthed previously undiscovered family secrets using writing exercises and strategies to reawaken old memories - happy, sad and traumatic - through sensory triggers. This workshop will also cover the resources Affield used to uncover family secrets starting from the 1918 Spanish Influenza Epidemic and on, including medical
records and more, as well as how to start a writers' group in your community. This program took place in 4 locations in the LARL region on October 29 and 30, 2019.
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Attendees will learn about the writing process of a MN author. Attendees will have the opportunity to practice some of his writing exercises. Attendees will learn about the stories of MN family through different period in history. Attendees will leave having learned techniques to do their own family history research and writing.
Surveys were collected from attendees. The program was highly rated. People appreciated hearing about his writing process and were encouraged and often inspirited to write themselves.
Lake Agassiz Regional Library