Writing Your Community’s History is a 90-minute interactive workshop led by author Fatima Shaik that challenges writers to look into their environments to find resources that will provide data and a point-of-view that will give context to a piece of journalism, non-fiction or fiction. The outcome of the workshop is the acquisition of skills and strategies for better storytelling, the goal of which is greater free expression through shared knowledge and personal growth.

In this interactive workshop, participants will attempt to create context for a story: They will perform brief research—by listing the material culture of their localities, archives and other resources in their communities. They will discuss methods such as keyword searches or physical library browsing, and then consider point-of-view and tone. They will think about the way to apply this to an upcoming project.

Storytelling is an effort to make others understand something that we know. So much of New Orleans history is oral and hardly leaves the kitchen table. The workshop will also serve family historians and activists who may not consider themselves writers but are always called upon to tell their story or the story of their organization.