Aspiring Writers Conference at Brookdale

Writers and readers of all ages and experience levels are invited to attend the first Aspiring Writers Conference at Brookdale Community College in Lincroft on June 27.

Four accomplished Brookdale faculty members and the founder of the Red Bank Blogging Club will give a series of lectures on memoir writing, blogging, narrative medicine and the personal and professional benefits of creative expression.

“You could be 19 or you could be 89. This is really for anyone who is interested in writing or passionate about reading,” said Linda Martin, director of community outreach and lifelong learning at Brookdale.

“Maybe you would like to write a memoir one day or start a blog. Maybe you would like to write a story or a book of poems and have it published. This conference allows people to meet others who are like-minded and share similar interests, and to learn from experts in the field.”

The conference will run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., featuring both a morning and an afternoon session. Lunch will be provided.

Two lectures will be offered simultaneously in both the morning and the afternoon sessions, allowing attendees to select the talks they are most interested in.

Laura McCullough, associate professor of English at Brookdale and author of several books including “Rigger Death & Hoist Another,” will give a morning lecture entitled “Mind and Memory in Memoir.”

The second morning lecture, titled “Blogs: Basics and Beyond,” will feature John Imperatore, a commodities and equities trader who founded both the Liberal Arts Trader blog and the Red Bank Blogging Club. Brookdale English Professor, author and Red Bank Blogging Club member Jim Cody will co-host the talk.

The first afternoon lecture, titled “Writing in the Dark: Secrets of the Soul,” will be given by Brookdale Associate English Professor Marc David Bonagura. Bonagura is also a teaching artist at Monmouth County Arts High School.

The second afternoon talk, “Medicine and the Humanities: Reading, Writing and Reflection,” will be given by Nancy Bryan, an adjunct in Brookdale’s English Department. Bryan attended the Narrative Medicine Workshop at Columbia University and developed the first conference on the topic at Brookdale.

Full descriptions of the lectures and registration information is available at
http://continuinged.brookdalecc.edu/lifelonglearning/aspiring-writers-conference/.

The conference, held at the Student Life Center on Brookdale’s Lincroft campus, is open to anyone over the age of 16. Registration is $69.  For more information or to reserve a spot call 732-224-2315.