How do you turn a memory or life experience into a powerful essay? In this interactive workshop, you’ll learn how to mine for meaningful material, hook your readers, structure your story for maximum effect, and elevate your anecdotes in a way that makes readers care, understand, think, laugh, relate, and be forever changed by your stories. Expect to write from a prompt and leave with plenty of tips and techniques for bringing your life to life on the page. This workshop welcomes beginners and seasoned authors. Bring something to write on/with and leave all self doubts at the door.

Joni B. Cole is the author of seven books, including Good Naked: How to Write More, Write Better, and Be Happier (listed as a “Best Books for Writers” by Poets & Writers magazine) and Toxic Feedback: Helping Writers Survive and Thrive (“I can’t imagine a better guide to writing’s rewards and perils than this fine book,” American Book Review). Joni teaches at her own writer’s center in White River Junction, Vermont, and at a diversity of academic and nonprofit programs across the country. She is a frequent speaker at conferences and a contributor to The Writer magazine. Joni also hosts the podcast “Author, Can I Ask You?” Her second collection of personal essays, Party Like It’s 2044, is forthcoming from the University of New Mexico Press in fall 2023.  www.jonibcole.com