Story Stop Roanoke: Telling Your Family Story
Learn to tell your family story with Story Stop, a virtual presentation Wednesday, Feb. 24 at 6:30 pm. Author and podcaster Kris Spisak will host the panel discussion with novelists Angie Smibert and Larry Bechtel, poet Ashley Rhame and freelance author Christina Nifong. Spisak will discuss how to use family storytelling to create a bonding experiences for you and your family.
Kris Spisak, a Roanoke native and North Cross graduate, wrote her first two books, Get a Grip on Your Grammar and The Novel Editing Workbook to help writers of all kinds sharpen their craft and empower their communications. Her “Words You Should Know” podcast follows the same mission. Her third book, The Family Story Workbook focuses on personal storytelling. A former college writing instructor, Kris is now an active speaker, workshop leader, and fiction editor."
Lawrence Bechtel is the author of That Dazzling Sun historical fiction about Isaac Granger, an enslaved laborer owned by Thomas Jefferson, who worked as a tinsmith in Philadelphia. The Tinsmith Trilogy includes A Partial Sun and concludes later this year with A Slow Eclipse. Bechtel is a former English Instructor at Virginia Tech and accomplished sculptor. He has a special interest in the African American experience during the Federal Era immediately following the Revolutionary War.
Ashley Rhame has published three books of poetry including her most recent Chasing Sun. A regular at Soul Sessions, her work has been featured in the Artemis Journal, alongside poets like Nikki Giovanni, Natasha Trethewey, and others in the Appalachian area. Rhame has led workshops at Hollins University and leads a regular youth writing workshop, TeenSpeak with Roanoke Public Libraries.
Angie Smibert is the author of The Truce, the final installment in the Ghost of Ordinary Objects Trilogy. The series, for middle readers and young adults, started with Bone's Gift, about an Appalachian girl coming to terms with her supernatural gift at the start of World War II. Smibert also is the author of the Memento Nora series and numerous nonfiction books for children.
Christina Nifong is a freelance writer who has published in The Roanoker magazine, the Roanoke Times, SWVA Living, Life Outside and The Local Palate. She also publishes a newsletter, Nourishing Stories, that features personal essays, links to noteworthy writing and events, and seasonal recipes.
Admission to the virtual event is free and registration is required.
