Instructor: Cindy Beer-Fouhy
Length: 11 sessions, $660
Fridays, 12:30 PM – 2:30 PM
(No class November 27)

“Write what should not be forgotten.”  ― Isabel Allende

Everybody has a story.  What’s yours? Through stimulating writing exercises in a supportive group, we will revisit and write about the important moments in our lives. Topics we will explore include childhood memories, careers, love and family, transformational experiences and personal quests.  We will write poetry and prose to capture memories and to discover the richness of our lives – the lighter, humorous moments along with the more difficult experiences we have come through.  People of every background will learn from each other’s experiences and inspire each other to keep writing insightful and thoughtful life stories.  We will write and share our work during class. 

How it works: During the workshop, participants will have time to recall events, discuss memories with others in the group, and write. Each 2 hour session includes: preliminary group discussion about writing topics to encourage interaction among participants, topic-based sample poems or stories by emerging or published authors (including Stanley Kunitz, Sharon Olds, Marie Howe, Mark Doty), a writing prompt, and individual sharing of stories aloud. Photographs, tactile and sensory objects will also be utilized to elicit memories.   

Cindy Beer-Fouhy is a freelance writer, publicist and arts consultant and has been teaching writing in schools and community facilities for over 30 years.  She was founder and director of the Literary Arts Department at the Northern Westchester Center for the Arts and curator of the award winning Creative Arts Café poetry series.  Her poetry and essays have been published widely in literary journals, magazines and anthologies including Bronx Accent: A Literary and Pictorial History of the Borough (Rutgers University Press) and her articles and interviews have appeared in Westchester Arts Council’s Arts News, Roll Magazine and Westchester Family.  Her poems have been winners of the 2011, 2012 and 2013  Greenburgh Poetry Competitions. Cindy has served as a judge for the National Jewish Book Awards and has been a consultant for   the Master of Arts in Writing program at Manhattanville College. She is on the advisory board of the Hudson Valley Writers Center’s Slapering Hol Press and is a member of the National Writers Project. She is currently a Teaching Artist through ArtsWestchester and BOCES.