Monday, April 20, 2026

7:00 pm – 8:30 pm ET

Ts, Timelines, and Other Tricks Toward Your Memoir’s First Draft

“For who will testify, who will accurately describe our lives if we do not do it ourselves?”

Faye Moskowitz, And the Bridge is Love (2011)

With SpeakerMelissa Fraterrigo

“You’ve likely heard that everyone has a book inside them. I’d like to rephrase that—everyone has the potential to write a book. This works because rather than supposing our book is just there, waiting to be released, it considers the person and how we play a part in the creative process. In this workshop, we’ll learn how to get out of our own way by using the letter T, timelines, and other tricks to propel you toward your memoir’s first draft.”  —Melissa Fraterrigo Website: https://www.melissafraterrigo.com/

Meet Melissa Fraterrigo…Melissa Fraterrigo’s memoir, The Perils of Girlhood, was published by the University of Nebraska Press in Fall 2025 and was named by Literary Hub as one of “100 Notable Small Press Books of 2025.” She is also the author of the novel Glory Days (University of Nebraska Press), which was named one of “The Best Fiction Books of 2017” by the Chicago Review of Books, as well as the short story collection The Longest Pregnancy (Livingston Press). Her fiction and nonfiction have appeared in numerous literary journals and anthologies from storySouth and Shenandoah to Notre Dame Review, Sou’wester, and The Millions. She teaches creative writing at Purdue University, in the Butler University MFA in Creative Writing program, and is also the founder and executive director of the Lafayette Writers’ Studio in Lafayette, Indiana, where she offers classes on the art and craft of writing. She lives with her husband and two daughters in West Lafayette, Indiana, and can be found at melissafraterrigo.com and at Between the Lines on Substack. When & Where?Join CIWA April 2026 Zoom MeetingMonday, April 20, 2026, 7:00–8:30 pm ET Join Zoom Meetinghttps://us02web.zoom.us/j/82284744435?pwd=KU0rU0tbtAhOo4tygYEP3XgjKKp1l8.1 Meeting ID: 822 8474 4435Passcode: 324439