During the first meeting, participants will read examples of Works Progress Administration-type writing, including excerpts from “North Carolina: A Guide to the Old North State,” and discuss how to collect local history and write their own reminiscences.

At the second meeting, participants will share the stories they have written and discuss the collection process. 

Some participants will be invited to read at the WCU Spring Literary Festival on Monday, March 26, at 2 p.m. The event also features a WPA-themed movie and author Nick Taylor, whose narrative history of the Works Progress Administration will be published in 2008. 

The WPA Federal Writers’ Project employed many now-celebrated writers, including Studs Terkel, Loren Eiseley, Zora Neale Hurston, May Swenson, John Cheever, Kenneth Rexroth, Richard Wright and Vardis Fisher.

“Writers for the project compiled local histories from regular people that historians typically overlook,” said Deidre Elliott, assistant professor of English at WCU who will lead the workshop. “We know there are still wonderful stories out there that, again, maybe haven’t been told. People may not even be aware of the good treasure trove of stories within their own families and in our region. This workshop will give them an opportunity to write some of them down and share them.”

Elliott teaches creative writing at Western. Her essays and memoirs have appeared in several anthologies, including “Getting Over the Color Green: Modern Environmental Writing of the Southwest” and “Hell’s Half-Mile: River Runners’ Tales,” as well as in literary journals such as Crazyhorse, Quarterly West and North Dakota Review.

Pre-registration for the writing workshop is required, and space is limited to 12. Participants will be asked to bring pen, paper and two photographs – one of a place and another of a family member or group. For more information and registration, call Elliott at (828) 227-3925. 

A complete schedule of WCU Literary Festival, to be held March 26-29, is available at litfestival.org.