Director of Adult Programs Lesley Lambton supplied the following:

The Ridgefield Library was the scene of much laughter, and a few tears, on Saturday mornings during September, as a group of aspiring writers took part in a memoir writing workshop. At each of the four sessions, English professor and author Joanne Dobson led participants deep into their past to reveal stories that more than proved Mark Twain’s observation that, “There was never yet an uninteresting life… Inside the dullest exterior there is a drama, a comedy and a tragedy.”

The group enjoyed the experience so much they decided to continue meeting and working together. The Memoir Writing Group now convenes on the first Saturday of each month from 10 to noon in the Library’s beautiful History Room. Each session includes writing prompts with twenty minutes of writing time, sharing and critique. If you are interested in joining, call 438-2282 (x1013) for more information, or just show up with a notebook and an open heart on Saturday, November 3.

In addition to the Memoir Writing Group the Library also hosts the Ridgefield Writers Guild, a networking group that meets on the third Tuesday evening of each month at 7 p.m. This group also welcomes new members keen on improving their craft and increasing the chances of seeing their work in print. The Guild recently had a very successful reading at Starbucks where members read from a diverse range of material including excerpts from hot-off-the-press novels to polished poems and passages of non-fiction. Their next meeting takes place in the History Room on Tuesday, November 20. Call Ellen at 438-1432 for more information.

Look for more writing workshops throughout 2008 as the Library celebrates the town’s 300th anniversary with a number of exciting programs fulfilling our mission to provide a place for Ridgefielders to “exchange ideas and grow.”