Photographs are powerful vessels of memory—small artifacts that live in albums, frames, and on our phones, holding moments of joy, longing, love, and loss.
In this three-week memoir writing workshop, led by Lisa Grunberger, we will explore how photos can serve as meaningful starting points for writing about the past. Together, we’ll consider how images invite stories forward, helping us approach both cherished memories and more difficult ones with care.
Alongside our own writing, we will engage with reflections on photography from writers such as Susan Sontag and John Berger. Through guided prompts and gentle exercises, participants will use personal photographs to generate new creative work, including short “micro-memoirs” that can stand alone or grow into longer pieces.
Each session will include time for sharing, discussion, and supportive feedback. Working with photos can be a tender, accessible way to honor our experiences and deepen the stories we carry.
All sessions will be recorded and sent to participants. We encourage live attendance for you to get the most out of the experience.
Poetry Pushcart nominee and Temple University English Professor Lisa Grunberger is a first-generation American writer. Her award-winning poetry book For the Future of Girls is a lyrical reflection on life as a woman, a mother, and a daughter of Holocaust survivors. It was nominated for an Eric Hoffer Independent Press award. She’s the author of Yiddish Yoga: Ruthie’s Adventures in Love, Loss and the Lotus Position (Harper Collins); Her poems appear in Breaking the Glass: A Contemporary Jewish Poetry Anthology (The Laurel Review, 2023). A widely published writer, her work has appeared in The New York Times, Newsday, The Southern Review, The Paterson Literary Review, Mudfish, Bridges, Of the Book Press, The Jewish Literary Journal, and Manna Songs: Stories of Jewish Culture and Heritage (ELJ Editions), Crab Orchard Review, Mom Egg Review, The Baffler. She’s been translated into Slovenian, Russian, Spanish, Yiddish.
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