Skip to main content
memoir writing workshop
PastWorkshopWritingMemoirEssayPaid

This event has passed

Lost, Found, Kept: Memoir Writing Workshop

Past event

About This Event

How do we turn the moments we remember into stories worth telling? What are some ways you can learn to dig deeper into your memories as you create a compelling narrative? Explore how you can write about your past while holding on to hope and courage during the process.

Bring your preferred writing implements as we do some brief generative writing exercises and talk about grounding techniques, the psychology of creativity, and self-compassion.

About Deborah Derrickson Kossmann
Deborah Derrickson Kossmann is the author of the memoir Lost Found Kept, which won Trio House Press's inaugural Aurora Polaris Creative Nonfiction Award. Her essays, feature articles, and poetry have appeared in The New York Times, Bellevue Literary Review, Nashville Review, and elsewhere. She lives in Havertown, where she works as a clinical psychologist.

About the Venue

Celia Bookshop Logo

Celia Bookshop

We are a woman-owned independent bookstore in the heart of Swarthmore offering a curated selection of new books including bestsellers, classics, and a large children's section. Community-centered, Celia is more than a bookstore—it’s a place to connect, explore, and find something you didn’t know you were looking for.

Visit store page

More at Celia Bookshop

Nov15
Author Talk & Q+A with Dr. Karabi Acharya
Author EventSwarthmore, PA

Author Talk & Q+A with Dr. Karabi Acharya

5:00 PM • Sunday, November 15, 2026Celia Bookshop$5–$30

Join us to celebrate Multitudes with author and public health expert Dr. Karabi Acharya , in conversation with author Kat Yeh . Together, they’ll discuss Multitudes and its exploration of identity, being multiracial, belonging, connection, and the experiences that shape who we are. The conversation will be followed by an audience Q&A, book signing, and wine and cheese reception.

Nov17
November Prose for the Planet
Book ClubScienceSwarthmore, PA

November Prose for the Planet

7:00 PM • Tuesday, November 17, 2026Celia BookshopFree

What would it take to build a future of greater possibility? In Abundance , New York Times journalists Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson explore how politics, policy, and bureaucracy can stand in the way of progress—and how we might rethink our approach to housing, clean energy, infrastructure, and more. Join Phil Coleman, founder of AFewSteps, an environmental nonprofit, for a conversation about the book’s ideas, the challenges they raise, and what it might look like to embrace a more ambitious vision for the future.

Nov19
Author Talk + Q&A with Chinelo Okparanta
Author EventSwarthmore, PA

Author Talk + Q&A with Chinelo Okparanta

7:00 PM • Thursday, November 19, 2026Celia Bookshop$5–$34

Join us to celebrate This Impossible Life , the new novel from acclaimed author Chinelo Okparanta, director of the creative writing program at Swarthmore College, in conversation with bestselling novelist Nicole Dennis-Benn. They’ll discuss Okparanta’s new book and its exploration of love, identity, family, belonging, and the choices that shape the lives we build for ourselves. The conversation will be followed by an audience Q&A, book signing, and wine and cheese reception.