Do you want to learn how to craft your life experience into a memoir that will captivate your reader? Jessica Handler, author of the compelling memoir Invisible Sisters and faculty member at the Art Institute of Atlanta and Oglethorpe University, will be one of the presenters at the Red Clay Writers Conference hosted by the Georgia Writers Association on Saturday, November 12, at Kennesaw State University. Handler has led workshops for GWA in the past and gives experience-based advice on how to create a memoir using the double-entry notebook and family artifacts as research. The double-entry notebook contains lines of regular notebook paper and lines of graphing paper. According to Handler, the writer can use one side for personal reflection and one side for research in order to find the “intersection of self and story.”
Handler had an interesting writing and research process for her creation of Invisible Sisters: “I have journals dating back to when I was nine. I read them, and visited with myself and my family on the page through the years, and recaptured those voices and perspectives,” she explains, adding that she obtained copies of her sisters’ medical records to better understand their life-ending genetic disorder. In addition, she says, “I researched some cultural and historical events in Atlanta, to make sure that I got them right in the book. And I had massive timelines on Kraft paper running the lengths of my studio walls, so that I could get a visual sense of who/what/where/when, and the why was my job as the author.” Handler said she wrote the book to gain a better understanding of herself and her family and “who [she] was before [her] sisters’ deaths.”
Handler enjoys working with students on developing their own writing: “I love the ‘aha’ moments, when a student’s been struggling with how to approach an aspect of his or her work, and the feedback I can give them opens a door to a path they can follow on their own.” In particular, she is excited about working with GWA because it “is such a dedicated group of readers and writers. I’m looking forward to a lively, productive workshop!”
At this year’s Red Clay Writers Conference, Jessica Handler will be the moderator for the panel entitled “There’s more than ME in Memoir: Making Your Personal Story Universal.” Her fellow presenters are Craig Rikard, author of The Hidden Epidemic, and Collin Kelley, who is a poet, novelist, playwright, and journalist, with a memoir in progress. The panel will be about how to use craft to create a memoir with a universal message that resonates with readers.
Handler has also completed a book called Writing Through Grief, which is expected to debut in 2013 and includes worksheets and tips from herself as well as other authors. Her advice to people who want to write memoirs is read: “Read memoirs, good ones and bad ones. Understand that the memoir is your truth about a subject, but that writing should never come from a place of anger. Be fair, be honest, to yourself and to others.”
Handler has been a workshop instructor and guest lecturer at numerous conferences, including The Decatur Book Festival, Grub Street Writers’ Conference in Boston, Georgia Perimeter College, and Emory University, among others. She has taught English 101, Scriptwriting, and Film and Television courses in addition to her memoir workshops. She has experience in television and film production in both Atlanta and Los Angeles, and she believes her experiences in these media helped her to develop her storytelling abilities.
Jessica Handler has also completed numerous book reviews, including: “Sun Salutation” and “The Party’s Over Here” for Pop Matters, and “Lift” for Rain Taxi Review of Books. She was a Managing Editor of Chai Magazine for two years and has been a feature and multimedia writer for various magazines, such as The Washington Post, Women’s Wear Daily, Atlanta Jewish Life, and Atlanta Woman Magazine
Handler is fond of V.S. Pritchett’s statement about memoir: “It’s all in the art; you get no credit for living.” Memoir writers who want to learn more about how to tell their life stories well should attend her workshop at the Red Clay writing conference; she is a talented writer and a dynamic presenter.
Last Updated on Tuesday, 17 January 2012 19:17
