Donna Morrissey

This weekend was the Cabot Trail Writer's Festival here.....i think it's in it's 12th or 13th year.....of course we missed the last 2 years, so i'm not sure!

Anyway, one of my favourite authors was here, Donna Morrissey!   I've read many of books of fiction, all set in her homeland of Newfoundland!   She has a gritty, honest and down to earth way of telling her stories.  The main event of her presence was the launch of her new memoir, Pluck!   She did a reading of it on Friday night - along with 5-6 other writers.  It was a fabulous evening, all the more exciting because most of us haven't been at a social event like this in almost 2 years!!  

But today was her workshop on Memoir writing!  Now i'm not trying to be a writer, but the idea of memoir intrigued me.   I believe we write our stories to gain a better understanding of who we are and how we got to where we are in our lives....especially as we age!   I was very excited to be participating in this workshop and Donna didn't disappoint.   This woman has hutspa in spades, passion, energy and a heart that is so open and generous!    She is also a wild woman who entertained us with her journey, which has not been an easy one!  

All i can say is i have a better sense of how to approach writing my own memoir, just for me  -  maybe my children will read it one day, but that's not the reason for writing it!  I have been writing in journals for most of my life, the act of writing out.... expressing my thoughts and feelings....has been a large part of my finding out who i am! 

The extra is of Jim and Lea who were at the workshop also!