A Little College in Iowa Called
I spoke with The Center for the Literary Arts at Cornell College in Mt. Vernon, Iowa, in December. The students listened to my process for writing a memoir - from initial ideas to interviewing others, and looking through all those stories in storage. Thank you to Dr. Rebecca Entel, Professor of English and Creative Writing, and Director of The Center, for hosting me.
From Dr. Entel:
“Student writers learn so much from hearing published authors' candid, "behind-the-scenes’ stories of how their books came to be. Charles Guittard generously shared stories, artifacts, and insights with my college students about his own writing journey. Students left his presentation with interest in his work and inspiration to keep journaling.”
Praise from a Student Attendee:
“I really appreciated that he mentioned journaling helps with memoir writing. I love to journal, so hearing him say that encourages me to keep journaling more than the motivation I woke up with this morning. Plus, hearing that his grandfather was alive in 1890 just astonished me! He was so amazing talking about the history of the things his grandfather and parents were so interesting too!”
I’m making the virtual rounds of college campuses. Know an English Department or writing center interested in a guest lecturer? Let me know. I’m happy to ‘zoom in’ to teach the art of memoir writing to the next generation.