Sharing Stories at CBPL, Nov. 11

Coos Bay Public Library hosts an evening of local writers sharing stories from their participation in a memoir writing class at SOCC at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 12th.  Everyone is welcome to listen to these stories–some funny, some sad, some reflecting the history of our coast, others, the history of lives lived elsewhere. For the past twenty years, a dedicated writers’ group has been meeting weekly on the Southwestern Oregon Community College campus, listening to each other’s stories, critiquing, encouraging, supporting and inspiring each other as they write about their lives or their relatives’ lives. Many have published one or several memoirs. Part of the support for these writers comes in the form of free tuition for those 65 and older, a benefit passed by Oregon’s legislature that SOCC has provided for seniors taking Writing 250, Autobiography.  But fees over the years at SOCC, as at all junior colleges, have increased and the income of many seniors has not kept pace.  As a fundraiser, a book of some of those stories written in class during the last twenty years resulted in an anthology of thirty-one stories. All profits from the sale of Memories from the Oregon Coast will go to help present and future members of the writing class pay the fees. These writers will be holding several readings throughout the community.  Each one will feature different writers and stories.  Other venues include Coos History and Maritime Museum, Books by the Bay, North Bend, North Bend Public Library, Gold Beach Public Library,Evergreen Court and Myrtle Point Library.  For more information about the Coos Bay Public Library program call 541.269.1101 or visit 525 Anderson Avenue.