The Moments That Shaped You:
A youth writing studio residency with Sean Prentiss
In this memoir writing class, you’ll dive into your own life story to uncover the moments that actually shaped you—who you became, how you got there, and why those moments still matter now. We’ll meet for three Wednesdays, each session lasting two hours, where you’ll learn the basics of memoir writing and dig into real experiences with family, friends, rivals, and everything in between. Think of it like shaping clay: we’ll look at how the world pushed, pulled, and molded you along the way.
For our final session, we’ll do something different—a shared dinner celebration with a pottery class. Together, we’ll talk about how we shaped our stories and our clay, and what those creations reveal about who we are. It’s part writing, part creativity, and all about discovering your voice.
Dates: Wednesdays, March 25, April 1, April 22
Time: 3 pm - 5 pm
Dinner & Share-out: April 30, 5 pm at the Old Firehouse
This memoir writing workshop is the first workshop in our spring series. Designed for teens, but open to participants of all ages, Sean will explore the same prompt that potter Cal Spinelli explores with her young cohort in her clay workshop. On April 30, both groups will gather together for a community dinner, and to share their clay forms and writing with each other.
Read about Cal’s clay workshop here.
Participants may register for both clay and writing workshops.
About Sean Prentiss
Sean Prentiss has lived and worked in most parts of the United States--the East Coast, Florida, the Rocky Mountains, the Great Basin, the Pacific Northwest, the Midwest, and now New England. Wherever he has lived, the power of stories and the power of place have been a part of his life.
Before he became a professor and writer, Sean worked as a trail builder with the Northwest Youth Corps in the Pacific Northwest and the Southwest Conservation Corps in the Desert Southwest. He also dish washed in five states and did about a million odd jobs ranging from construction to driving cars.
When not working, he has canoed the Delaware River solo from headwaters to brackish water, thru hiked the 500-mile Colorado Trail, and section hiked Vermont's Long Trail.
When he is not writing, traveling, canoeing, or hiking, Sean is an associate professor at Norwich University. He hand-built a small cabin in the central mountains of Colorado, and he lives on a small lake in northern Vermont with his beautiful wife, Sarah, his daughter, Winter, and his wild dog, Blueberry.