South Coast writers Mike Cavanagh and Anne Howell have teamed up to help aspiring memoirists to keep their creations firmly in the realm of real stories by real people.
Mike and Anne are introducing a new course tailored for memoirists: Your Memoir Draft to Done. It will offer support with DIY editing, tips on publishing and an introduction to promotion. The South Coast Writers Centre is host.
Starting on August 7, it will run once a week, for six weeks, online. All memoirists are welcome. Bookings are essential.
Anne says: “As AI rocks our culture, serious memoirists should ignore the temptation to hand over their story, and its refining process, to the bots. Some tools are good for checks and other basics, but not for 'make or break' factors like voice.”
Mike adds: “Memoirs are our voices carrying across time, speaking to those who remain even after we’ve gone. The great opportunity and challenge of writing a memoir is to be heard as you, not you as interpreted by someone, or something else.”
Both agree that the best people to guide you through the personal journey of memoir writing and editing are those who walk with you – people who understand your learning journey through having undertaken their own.
“Memoir is a form that relies on representing an individual’s human memory,” Anne said, “and needs a strong distinctive personal voice, to achieve this, human work and brainpower is best.”
Anne is the author of All That I Forgot, a story about her early recovery from amnesia. She lives in Coledale.
Mike is the author of three memoirs: One of Its Legs are Both the Same, A Pocket Full of Days, (Parts 1 and Part 2) and An Ordinary Boy... Mostly. He has taught memoir writing for over five years through the South Coast Writers Centre. Mike lives in Bateman’s Bay.
Course: Your Memoir Draft to Done
Dates: August 7 to September 11, 2025
Venue: Zoom
Host: South Coast Writers Centre
Book: Humanatix