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November Writing Workshops Open to Veterans, Families

November 2, 2024

To commemorate Veterans Day and to honor our military veterans, the South Dakota Humanities Council is sponsoring two FREE Veterans’ Writing Workshops in November.

As part of Warrior Wellness Week at South Dakota State University, one Veterans’ Writing Workshop will be held on Wednesday, Nov. 6, at SDSU’s Veterans Affairs Resource Center, 1391 8th St. (Brown Hall 134), Brookings. The workshop will run from 4:00-5:30 p.m. CT.

Another Veterans’ Writing Workshop will be held on Saturday, Nov. 16, in the Hoyt Room at the Rapid City Public Library, 610 Quincy St., Rapid City. The workshop will run from 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. MT

All military veterans and their family members are invited and encouraged to attend.

Following are the primary goals of the workshops.

  • To connect veterans with others who have shared or similar life experiences
  • To provide a welcoming and comfortable place for veterans to “tell their stories”
  • To create a collection of stories that can be shared with a broader audience
  • To provide a platform for veterans to engage in lifelong learning through writing

SDHC Scholar Amber Jensen will facilitate the Brookings workshop. Jensen is a senior lecturer in the School of English and Interdisciplinary Studies at South Dakota State University. She teaches writing with an emphasis on the genres of creative nonfiction and poetry. Her memoir,The Smoke of You: A Memoir of Love During & After Deployment, focuses on how her husband’s military service has influenced her family. She has worked with military families to encourage the sharing of experiences to better understand the significant impacts of war in our culture.

SDHC Scholar Molly Barari will facilitate the Rapid City workshop. Barari holds a Doctorate in Adult Education from the University of South Dakota and an MFA in Creative Writing from Wilkes University. She has extensive experience teaching writing, including the “Heirlooms: Creative Life Writing” workshop, in which she provides prompts that encourage participants to record life memories through sensory detail. This type of writing allows participants to process and make meaning of past events and connects them with others through sharing and listening protocols.

To register for the FREE workshops, visit https://sdhumanities.wufoo.com/forms/xoroj2l1xx13ej/.

For more information, contact SDHC Program Coordinator Stacy Chidaushe at (605) 688-6113.

Learn more about humanities programming in South Dakota by signing up for SDHC e-Updates!