Community Writing Center

In conjunction with this year’s Great Salt Lake Book Festival, the SLCC Community Writing Center will host two four-hour workshops entitled “Crafting Family Stories,” during which up to 20 Salt Lake City families will write and produce handmade books immortalizing their family legacy, one story at a time. 

The two Crafting Family Stories workshops will be held simultaneously on Saturday, October 20, 2007 at two Salt Lake Libraries: the Chapman Branch of the Salt Lake City Library, located at 577 S. 900 West in Salt Lake City, and the Salt Lake County Park Library located at 4870 S. 2700 West, Taylorsville. Families will sign up on a first-come, first-served basis at the respective libraries. Due to space limitations, the Park Library workshop will be limited to 40 participants and the Chapman Library workshop will be limited to 24 participants.  Registration is free; lunch will be provided.

During the workshops, CWC Writing Assistants, Elizabeth Coleman and Chanel Earl, will provide writing prompts and collaborative strategies to the participants as they brainstorm the family stories they would like to record.  Then, with the support of CWC Volunteers, Chanel and Elizabeth will assist the families in their drafting process.  Following a lunch break, they will demonstrate simple book-making techniques, after which the families will create a hand-made book and record their stories into it.  (“Family” will be self-defined by the participants, although each “family” must be at least two people, in order to benefit from the collaborative writing strategies that will be presented at the workshops.) Books will then be displayed at the Festival.

The mission of the SLCC Community Writing Center (CWC) is to support, motivate and educate people of all abilities and educational backgrounds who want to use writing for practical needs, civic engagement and personal expression.  Sponsored by Salt Lake Community College since 2001, the CWC has worked with over 1500 writers and has facilitated over 100 writing workshops for the community and partner organizations.  In 2003-2004, the CWC partnered with the Utah Humanities Council’s “Museum on Main Street / Key Ingredients” traveling exhibition to offer our Food Lore workshop in Huntsville, Springdale, Richfield and West Valley City, Utah.  Since the CWC’s move to the Salt Lake Main Library’s “Library Square” in January 2006, they have been able to partner with the Library on nearly a dozen community literacy programs.

— Provided by the Community Writing Center

This workshop is supported by Wild Oats, Stampin’ Up!, and The Marriot Library’s Book Arts Program.