Rathdrum Library offers memoir-writing class

Everyone has a story — and it’s never too late to tell yours.

That’s what Jane Iddings says.

The Rathdrum resident and former columnist for the Arizona Daily Sun will lead a free 12-week memoir writing series at the Rathdrum Library beginning at 10:30 a.m., Friday, Sept. 13, Classes will take place every Friday through Dec. 6, except for the day after Thanksgiving.

The class is open to writers of all skill and experience levels.

“This is a safe place to come and have the opportunity to think about their lives and what stories they can spin,” Iddings said.

After years of traveling the United States and abroad, Iddings said she returned home to North Idaho to contemplate her life and “to make meaning of it by writing it down.”

She hopes her course will help others do the same.

“The memoir-writing class is for folks who want to have the dedicated time to think about their lives and to write their life stories,” she said.

The class is based on Julia Cameron’s book “It’s Never Too Late to Begin Again: Discovering Creativity and Meaning at Midlife and Beyond.”

Iddings, a retired lawyer, has taught at Yavapai Community College in Sedona, Ariz., and Sonoma State University in Rohnert Park, Calif. She leads the Village Writers at Twin Lakes in Rathdrum.

Memoirs can take different forms, Iddings said. For some writers, a memoir can be a simple series of recollections; others explore themes as they recount their personal and family stories. For all, it’s a chance to express creative abilities.

“Sometimes it’s an awakening,” she said.

Rathdrum Library Communications Director Anne Abrams said the course could be “life-changing” for the writers who take part.

“We all have it in us to be creative, even though we think we may not,” she said. “Individuals who come to this writing program will either find their creativity or explore it.”

Iddings said she encourages all interested writers to participate. No matter their level of experience, by the end of the 12-week course, all participants will have started a journey toward putting their life stories on paper.

“Everybody is welcome,” she said.

Reservations for the course are required and space is limited. Info: 208-687-1029