Weekend Writing Workshop 2026

Writing Family Stories with Dr Deborah Shepard

For people wanting to explore their personal and their family stories through writing and recording this workshop, facilitated by memoir teacher Dr Deborah Shepard, offers an opportunity to explore and hone your writing and listening skills. The course opens on Saturday with a series of memoir/autobiographical writing exercises to assist you to settle into your voice, then leads into  biographical/family stories. Please bring any family photographs, heirlooms, domestic items, taonga to use as creative stimulus.  The Sunday session covers the pleasures and intricacies of doing biographical research and includes an introduction to oral history.  For the Sunday afternoon segment, Deborah brings her vast experience as an oral historian, interviewing writers, artists and film makers of Aotearoa, to guide you through the practical, conceptual and ethical aspects of gathering people's stories. 

This course is designed for: family genealogists/keepers of the stories, writers, auto/biographers and those people who yearn to capture and record some of the family stories before it is too late. No experience is required just a passion for storytelling and family history.

Expected learning outcomes:

• improved writing skills
• greater fluency and confidence as a writer of personal and family stories
• a set of biographical questions to shape a family history project
• an understanding of the biographical interviewing process and how to facilitate storytelling

When: 10am- 4pm Saturday 29 and Sunday 30 August 2026
Where: Selwyn College Auckland 
Fee: $150  Please register your interest at  
Bring A pen and A4 lined notebook.
Register https://www.selwyncomed.school.nz/courses/2104-recording-oral-histories-with-deborah-shepard/