While co-authoring a personal history can be a transformative experience, it can also be a daunting project. In this talk, writer, journalist and musician Leora O'Carroll takes the audience through a step by step road map to navigate the process of working with a relative to write that memoir that you have always envisioned. 

 

Critical elements of memoir collaboration are discussed including: finding the time to commit to the memoir; organizing a writing schedule; structuring interviews; managing memory gaps; verifying family lore; handling creative disagreements and establishing voice. The session is designed to resonate with anyone interested in preserving personal or cultural heritage through memoir.

 

O’Carroll’s own family memoir, Maureen O'Carroll: A Musical Memoir of an Irish Immigrant Childhood is co-authored by Leora and her mother, Maureen. It’s a richly evocative memoir of resilience, ambition, and music that traces the extraordinary journey of John and May O'Carroll - Irish independence fighters who, after years of periodic imprisonment, began anew in Depression-era Sydney, Australia. Told through the eyes of fiercely observant middle child Maureen, this narrative chronicles the chaos and warmth of a large immigrant family and their determination to thrive in their new home. Music plays a vital role in the lives of the ten children and is instrumental in the family rising above their hard circumstances to achieve a better life.

 

Brimming with humor, heart, and historical insight, this compelling account celebrates the unbreakable bonds of kin, the endurance of identity, and the transformative power of music.

 

O'Carroll is an Emmy-nominated television writer and producer of documentaries and news programming. She co-authored with her mother, Maureen O'Carroll: A Musical Memoir of an Irish Immigrant Childhood. Selected for IrishCentral's "Ultimate Irish Reading List", the memoir recounts Maureen's experiences growing up in a large, Irish immigrant family during the Depression and World War Two in Sydney, Australia. All ten children were musicians. A graduate of Oberlin College and Conservatory, Leora is also a musician and resides in Culver City, CA.

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