Researching, Writing, and Preserving Family Stories
with Jan Seale, 2012 Texas Poet Laureate &
Avrel Seale, Author and Genealogist
Penny Redmon Visiting Lecturers
Friday, January 10th & Saturday, January 11th 10:30 AM - 1:00 PM
204 S Austin St Rockport, TX
FREE For Members, $100 For Nonmembers
WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION:
Family Research: Avrel Seale
Learning and then sharing family history can be deeply rewarding. Two of Avrel's books are histories of different branches of his family tree. A third, a historical novel, is in the works. Avrel will discuss both the why and the how of writing family history books. He will demonstrate genealogical research sites such as Ancestry.com and WikiTree.com, give tips on organizing research, and discuss techniques for placing our ancestors in historical context.
Writing Family Stories: Jan Seale
Do you want to record the stories and "lore" of your birth family, or the one you have created? Perhaps you are wondering where to begin, what is important, how to organize, how to describe "black sheep," or how to tell about difficult events or circumstances. You'll get tips on capturing your stories in entertaining writing, plus ways to use such things as letters, recipes, diary notes, and keepsakes. Memoirists make important discoveries about their own lives, as well as prepare a priceless gift for their loved ones.
Self-Publishing Session: Avrel and Jan Seale
Once you've written a book, how do you get it in print? In the past 25 years, technology has enabled anyone to publish a book at low-to-no cost. Though there are pros and cons to self-publishing, the pros far outweigh the cons when it comes to family history. Avrel and Jan are commercially published authors, but they both have extensive experience in self-publishing. They will explain the basic process, from choosing a publisher to designing your book and its cover, setting the price and enjoying your new friends and readers.
About the Instructors:
Jan Seale, a native Texan, is the 2012 Texas Poet Laureate. She has taught writing in three universities and presented workshops in many locations over the nation. Her writing has appeared in such publications as The Yale Review, Texas Monthly, and Writer’s Digest.
Seale is the author of books of poetry, short fiction, essays, biographies, plays, and children’s literature. Her awards include a fellowship with the National Endowment for the Arts, a Pushcart Prize nomination, and citations from the New York Poetry Forum. Her latest books are A Lifetime of Words and Particulars: poems of smallness.
One more fact that may astound:
Americans eat eight million pounds
of guacamole Super Sunday,
making us pounds fatter Monday.
What to conclude of the avocado:
It’s a fruit we eat a lot o’.
from “The Avocado”
from Particulars
She has three sons and four grandsons and lives in McAllen, in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas.
Avrel Seale is the author of 12 books, including memoir, humor, philosophy, history, religion, and unsolved mystery. He has written two books on family history — "Staggering: Life and Death on the Texas Frontier at Staggers Point" and "The Hewetts: An American Saga in the Age of Vaudeville, Circuses, and Bands." Currently he is writing a novel based on family history. He is on the staff of The University of Texas at Austin, where he has served as editor of UT's alumni magazine, speechwriter for the university's president, and a writer in the UT news, marketing and development offices. Avrel is the youngest son of Jan Seale.
Join us for a Poetry and Literary Reading
FREE community event Saturday Jan 11th 5:30-6:30!
SIGN UP FOR CLASS
January 10 & 11, 2025
10:30AM – 1PM
FREE for Members and $100 for Non-members