The Arts & Heritage Council has hosted the Clarksville Writers Conference, honoring the city’s literary heritage, for 20 years. Participants always come away with memories of discussions with presenting authors and renewed enthusiasm to continue their own writing paths.
While the conference introduces writers to diverse voices and ideas, it seems time to pivot to a more defined and personal approach to writing. This summer, instead of short sessions with many authors, AHC will offer a two-day intense workshop with one author and writing coach offering advice and encouragement for participants to tell their unique stories.
Whether you are writing a public memoir or a private gift to children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews, award-winning memoirist Kelly J. Beard will give you tips and pathways to move to a completed piece at our Memoir Writing Workshop on Friday, June 19, and Saturday, June 20.
“If you are an emerging writer of creative nonfiction and looking for the tools and direction necessary to tell your story to the world, please remember that your voice matters. And I would love to help you find it.” — Kelly J. Beard
Kelly J. Beard is an award-winning Georgia-based author, essayist, and former attorney known for her critically acclaimed memoir, An Imperfect Rapture. Named the 2019 Georgia Author of the Year for Memoir, her work explores themes of family faith, addiction, poverty, suicide, and the American South, blending personal experience with lyrical prose.
An Imperfect Rapture won the 2019 Georgia Author of the Year Award for Memoir and was a Zone 3 Press Creative Nonfiction Book Award winner. Her personal essays have been published in Ruminate, Creative Nonfiction, Santa Ana River Review, Five Points, and Bacopa Literary Review. Critics have described her writing as insightful, courageous, and luminous, often incorporating themes of resilience.
She earned an MFA in Creative Writing in 2016 from Vermont College of Fine Arts and has worked with the Reinhardt University Creative Writing MFA program.
Kelly came to creative writing after decades of working as an employment discrimination lawyer, during which time she received multiple awards for her legal and community service, including being named a “Super Lawyer,” a “Star of Atlanta,” and one of the nation’s “Preeminent Female Lawyers.” Her work assisting victims of domestic violence earned her a Certificate of Recognition from the Georgia Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
Learn more about what Kelly has to offer to other writers from her website: https://kellyjbeard.com/author-bio.
Kelly often explores the intersection of faith and “shadowlands” in her writing, drawing from her own experiences to create a “reflective and powerful voice,” as mentioned in this Kenyon Review interview with Kelly J. Beard: https://kenyonreview.org/2019/06/music-and-silence-a-conversation-with-kelly-j-beard
The Customs House Museum & Cultural Center has reserved a room for us to meet from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday, June 19, and Saturday, June 20. Fees are $100 for Arts & Heritage members and $125 for non-members. Participants should bring 1 to 3 pages you have written, whether a micro-memoir (https://www.writermag.com/improve-your-writing/nonfiction/micro-memoir), an anecdote, an outline, or the beginning of a longer piece. You’re on your own for lunch, but there will be a break from 11:30am to 1:00pm to enjoy either a packed lunch from home or lunch at one of our many downtown restaurants. Space is limited in this small and personal workshop, so the registration deadline is June 15 or whenever all slots are filled.