Recipes and Our Lives is a 1½ day peer-led memoir and personal narrative writing workshop. We will use family recipes as a focal point for writing stories of educational and career development from our personal perspectives as diverse women from different cultures. Stories exemplifying achievement from low-income backgrounds are especially welcomed. The workshop is an outgrowth of a partnership between two Tucson not-for-profit (501c3) organizations: the Tucson Botanical Gardens (TBG) (http://www.tucsonbotanical.org) and the Women’s International Leadership Institute (WILI). WILI promotes the leadership potential, career development, and economic self-sufficiency of women from low-income economic backgrounds, typically through providing $500 grants-in-aid.

Participants in the WILI women’s writing workshop (WWWW) will peer-critique stories during the writing workshop. An editorial team will select stories to be published in a book, with all proceeds used to benefit WILI’s mission. All WWWW participants will receive a copy of the book upon publication. TBG has generously offered their gardens and community rooms as in-kind spaces to host the workshop. At the conclusion of the workshop, participants will have the opportunity to select their favorite space in the gardens for a public reading of their story.

To participate in the WWWW, send:

1) A draft story no later than September 15 via email to catherine.marshall@wili.org AND
2) Participation fee of $25 payable to WILI via PayPal at www.wili.org no later than September 15.

Stories need to:

• Highlight a successful educational or career journey
• Include a family recipe
• Have a title
• Be submitted electronically in Times New Roman, 12 point font
• Be between 900-1500 words
• Be double-spaced

Susanne Bruyère, Michelle Conklin, Amy Hickman, Sharon Johnson, Catherine Marshall

For more information, contact: catherine.marshall@wili.org