Lil Blume is a teacher, writer, and workshop leader living in Hamilton, Ontario. She has been leading family story workshops since 2000, including the 2009 Limmud Festival in Toronto and the 2010 IAJGS conference in LA.

From 2005-2010, she worked with a 2nd Gen writing group every year and genealogy groups in Edmonton, Vancouver, Halifax, and Toronto. Her workshop helped members shape their stories for the JGS Toronto‘s 25th anniversary book, Tracing Our Roots. Indeed, ever since IAJGS 2010, people have written asking for her to run another workshop.

“Writing Family Stories Workshop, Part 1” (Thurs-121), 12:30-1:15 P.M.

Writing Family Stories Workshop, Part 2 (Thurs-179), 1:30-2:45 P.M.

This interactive, participatory workshop provides tools and techniques for finding and writing the stories of our ancestors’ lives –and our own — as we follow the hints that they have left us.

Writing these stories finishes our unfinished business with the dead and honors them. The story may be in our detective work and genealogical research, our family’s lives, or the miracle of our survival given the weight of history against us. The story may be in finding and connecting with present-day humans who happen to share our great-great-great grandparents.

What stories can you write with the information that you have? How do you get started?

This workshop intends to inspire you to write these stories, one at a time, and find the family story that lifts your research from personal to universal.

The workshop will start at 12:45 p.m. in Cedar A and continue in Cedar B from 1:30 – 2:45. Bring paper and pen, tablet or laptop. We are writing.