Shaping Family History into Compelling Stories
a workshop on memoir
with author Annette Gendler
Tuesday, January 8, 19:00-22:00
Do you have a box of old family photographs, a bundle of family letters, or stacks of family documents that you want to “do something with?”
Based on her experience of writing her memoir Jumping Over Shadows, the story of German-Jewish love that overcame the burdens of the past, author Annette Gendler will lead a workshop presenting approaches to creating compelling stories from family history. We will study how artifacts such as letters and official documents can be used to create a story, discuss different research methods, and look closely at how source material is transformed into a story. We will also practice writing scenes and examine literary devices and structure to help shape our stories. Participants are invited to bring artifacts from projects in progress. DetailsMaximum Participation: 10
Cost: 250 NIS if paid in full by Jan 1, 280 NIS subsequently. Location: Baka (more details upon registration). Registration: Sign up and we will be in touch. Payment can be made via bank transfer, cheque/check or cash (by special arrangement). Cancellation and refund policy |
![]() Annette Gendler is the author of Jumping Over Shadows (She Writes Press, 2017), the memoir of a German-Jewish love that overcame the burdens of the past. Her writing and photography have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Tablet Magazine, The Forward, Kveller, Bella Grace and Artful Blogging, among others. She served as the 2014–2015 writer-in-residence at the Hemingway Birthplace Home in Oak Park, Illinois, and she has been teaching memoir writing at StoryStudio Chicago since 2006. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Queens University of Charlotte.
From the Jewish Book Council review: 'In Annette Gendler’s compelling memoir, Jumping Over Shadows, the author juxtaposes her journey to Judaism (primarily in Germany, though she converted in Switzerland) with the story of her Christian great-aunt, who married a Jew in a German community within Czechoslovakia before World War II and saw her family torn apart because of it.' |