Author Sarah Evans helps Bridgetown community write memoirs to capture stories

Writing a memoir seems to be on the minds of many Bridgetown locals, but knowing where to start when putting pen to paper can hold people back from telling their story. To help, author Sarah Evans has started running writing workshops in Bridgetown so people can capture their stories and memories. “A lot of people have done exciting things, and they want to have a record of it,” she told the Times. “For some people, it’s just they’ve got a story to tell.” So, after discovering that many people don’t know where to begin, she started memoir writing workshops in 2010 for the Bridgetown community. She has continued this year with two sessions for the Fridgetown festival called Memoir Magic Writing Workshops held at the Cidery. Evans said last Friday’s workshop was an example of how “everyone’s got a story,” and how creative writing prompts and ideas can help with writing. A group of six attendees were invited to write down memories sparked by prompts and creative items Evans handed out, such as old card games, sewing buttons, marbles, tins, native plants and rosemary. Evan told the Times writing prompts and objects helped people get into a “different mindset” when writing down memories or stories. It is those stories she helps draw out which Evans enjoys reading later. “It’s lovely when people take what you’ve done and run with it,” she said. “When people come and show me what they’ve written and share their success - that’s what it’s all about, sharing and helping people.” In 2007, she published her own memoir and recipe book called Seasons and Seasonings in a Teapot — an anthology of rural family life in the Blackwood Valley, which is illustrated by Wendy Hearn. “We lived in a little shack without running water and electricity with a baby, and we end up moving to a house,” Evans said. “I thought it’d be nice to write down the stories for the children so that they would have some idea of what we went through.” The next workshop will be held on August 16 at the Cidery.