The Story Circle Network, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping women explore and record their life stories, is holding its first national conference at the Town Lake Holiday Inn in Austin TX, February 8-10, 2001.
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The three-day conference, "Stories from the Heart," features keynote speaker Dr. Betty Sue Flowers. Dr. Flowers, the newly-appointed director of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library, has had a distinguished teaching and administrative career at the University of Texas at Austin, serving as director of creative writing, as the Kelleher Professor of English, and as a Piper Professor. Dr. Flowers will speak on the value and importance of women’s stories in our culture. |
Eighteen program sessions will be offered by presenters from around the country. They will speak on a wide variety of topics of interest to women memoirists and life-writers, including the creation of family-legacy stories, personal narrative techniques, self-publishing, interviewing, journaling, memoir and fiction, mother-daughter stories, and art as a medium for personal story. An open-mike evening will give participants an opportunity to perform their stories.
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Dr. Susan Wittig Albert, Story Circle founder and best-selling author, will be featured at the wrap-up luncheon on Sunday. She will speak on the power of personal story to shape, heal, and transform. |
The conference program and registration information is available on-line, at www.storycircle.org/Conference. A brochure may be requested by phone, at 512-454-9833.
Speaking about the significance of the conference, the first of its kind anywhere, Dr. Albert says, "In the last ten years, personal narrative has been increasingly recognized as an important literary form, with hundreds of new memoirs and autobiographies being published each year. As more and more people become interested in genealogy, they have begun to understand that family story is an important legacy and that women are often the family’s story-keepers. And psychologists note, as well, the importance of journaling and personal narrative as a tool for improving mental and physical health. We hope that our conference will encourage women to develop and explore their personal stories."
The Story Circle Network is a national association of women, with members in 44 states and four foreign countries. It publishes a quarterly journal and sponsors a wide variety of educational programs through its Austin and Internet chapters. Its main office is in Austin, TX.
Contact: Judith Helburn, thehelburns@sbcglobal.net
For more information: www.storycircle.org/Conference
Last updated: 12/05/01