“Silver Linings,” A Creative Writing Workshop for Seniors

The Writers’ Colony at Dairy Hollow (WCDH) is thrilled to present “Silver Linings,” a writing workshop instructed by Debra Kirschner. This workshop is open to older writers of all levels.  Participants will learn to use their life experiences as inspiration for memoir-style essays, fictional narratives, or a hybrid of both. Creative writing exercises will be used specifically to find humor in painful situations. The workshop will be on Saturday, May 21, from 10:00 am to noon at the Writers’ Colony at Dairy Hollow, 515 Spring Street, Eureka Springs.  The workshop fee is $40 per person.  All proceeds benefit the WCDH scholarship fund. Participants should bring their preferred writing medium and a sense of humor. This is sure to be an entertaining, inspiring, and informative class. WCDH COVID protocols are in place and participants must be fully vaccinated for COVID-19. Register at www.writerscolony.org/events or call 479-253-7444.

Debra Kirschner was a winner of WCDH’s 2021 “Humor Me” fellowship, open to writers of all genres who use humor as a key element in their work. Kirschner was one of two winners selected from 58 applications received from writers across the US. She is a prolific filmmaker from Brooklyn, New York.  She specializes in honest stories about funny, flawed characters. Best known for writing and directing the feature film, The Tollbooth, her other film work includes the comic web series The Happy Mommy Hustle; Frog Kissers, a television pilot; a short screenplay, Pickled, written for Emmy-nominated director Tasha Oldham; and a 16mm short, Changing Clothes, that played at festivals worldwide. Kirschner also worked as a producer and event coordinator for New York Women in Film and Television (NYWIFT), a non-profit membership organization for professional women in film, television, and digital media; and has created videos for several small businesses, including the activist group Rise and Resist. During her two-week residency, Kirschner will be putting the final touches on her comedic screenplay, Mallwalkers. Set in post-COVID America, it’s about the resilience of seniors through unparalleled challenges. The film’s protagonist becomes a hero at 70 in stereotype-busting ways.

The Writers’ Colony at Dairy Hollow would like to thank author and WCDH alumna, Linda Leavell, and her husband, Brooks Garner, for developing and generously funding the “Humor Me,” “Emerging Poet,” 2021 and 2022 “Illuminating Black Lives,” and “The Changing American South” fellowships. For more information about funding a fellowship supporting the genre and/or area of interest you are passionate about, visit www.writerscolony.org/sponsor-a-fellowship. To see a list of current fellowship opportunities, visit www.writerscolony.org/fellowships.

The Writers’ Colony at Dairy Hollow is a 501(c)3 nonprofit whose mission is to nurture writers of all genres, backgrounds, and levels of experience in a supportive environment that builds community, energizes creative expression, stimulates new thinking, and optimizes productivity. Since opening its doors to writers in 2000, the Writers’ Colony at Dairy Hollow has made a lasting impact on the arts and literary communities hosting over 1,700 writers from 48 states and 13 countries. For more information, please visit www.writerscolony.orgor call Michelle Hannon or Jeanne Glass at (479)253-7444.