Seniors & Veterans
Biography Writing Workshop Series
Tuesdays, May 2nd, 9th, & 16th
Wakefield Senior Center
1:30 to 2:45 pm
Beginning Tuesday, May 2nd, The Room to Write is hosting a three-week workshop series for seniors and veterans on how to interview people and write biographies. The workshops will be held at the Wakefield Senior Center, 30 Converse Street, Wakefield, MA. They will run from 1:30 p.m. – 2:45 p.m., on Tuesdays, May 2nd, 9th, and 16th. Each class will build upon the previous session and registration is required.
Instructors Kathy Shine Cain and Sally Chetwynd will be leading these workshops and helping participants interview one another and write biography pieces based on those interviews. On the first day, participants will learn the mechanics of interviewing and then interview someone in the group. As homework, participants will write the first draft at home and bring it back to the second workshop where they will review the piece with the interviewee. Finally, at the third workshop, participants will introduce their interviewee by reading the profile piece.
The workshop is limited to 16 participants. To register, please call the Wakefield Senior Center at 781-245-3312 to register.
Participants should bring their own preferred writing “utensils”—such as pen and paper, iPad, or computer.
Writers’ Critique Group:
1:30 to 2:45 pm
The Last Tuesday of Each Month
Join us at the Wakefield Senior Center to share and critique one another’s work in a safe and friendly environment!
Submissions of up to 1,000 words are due on or before the 2nd-to-last Tuesday of each month. They will be distributed to all attendees the following Wednesday, giving everyone a week to print and critique other people’s submissions.
Click here for a PDF version of the program flier to print and share!
*Please review the following in preparation for submission and offering critique:
For more information, contact Linda Malcolm at linda@theroomtowrite.org or 781-439-1080.
Our programming is FREE to participants thanks to our sponsors: The Savings Bank
Photo courtesy of JC Marketing
Want to learn about how a local writers' critique group works?
Hear from three local writers who participate in the
Stoneham Writers Group.
Read about the "Seniors to Seniors" event that took place on November 16th, 2022.
Click here to visit our blog and learn about the Seniors to Seniors event.
Read about our Workshop Series that took place in October of 2022.
Click here to visit our blog and read about our Senior & Veterans Writing Workshop series.
After our structured 4-week workshop series in October at the Wakefield Senior Center we held more informal guided writing sessions we call "Gather & Write" during the months of November and December. We look forward to holding another structured 3-week workshop series in January 2023 focusing on Memoir Writing.
Workshop facilitators above (left to right): Colleen Getty, Sally Chetwynd, Linda Malcolm and Kathleen Shine Cain.
Get your thoughts, memories, stories, histories, and personal experiences down on paper! Our workshops are approachable for those hesitant to write and fulfilling for those wanting to grow in their writing experience.
Participants will experience a variety of approaches to written expression, meet the instructors to learn about their writing while experimenting with writing poetry, memoir, and fiction.
Seniors
The Room to Write has received several requests for more writing opportunities and workshops for seniors in the communities we serve.
Workshops are designed to be approachable for those hesitant to write and fulfilling for those wanting to grow in their writing experience. Workshops will include the opportunity to get thoughts, memories, stories, history and personal experiences on paper and an invitation to share when comfortable. Participants will be guided according to individual needs and goals.
Veterans
As we build relationships with the many organizations that serve seniors in communities north of Boston, Veterans emerged as a natural partner through our outreach.
We welcome veterans of all ages to participate in our writing programs.
Linda Malcolm - Coordinator of Senior and Veteran Programming
We are so pleased to have Linda Malcolm as the Coordinator of Senior and Veteran Programming for The Room to Write.
Linda is a local non-fiction writer and author of Cornfields to Codfish, a collection of short personal essays. Throughout the last ten years or so, she has been writing short, non-fiction, personal essays. In 2018, she was one of sixteen non-fiction writers selected to attend the annual New York State Summer Writers Institute at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY.
To learn more about senior and veteran writing programs, contact Linda Malcolm at linda@theroomtowrite.org.