Mining Memory for Short Fiction

Your past is full of stories waiting to be transformed. This workshop invites you to raid your memory banks—those people who shaped you, the places that haunt you, the objects you can't forget—and use them as springboards into fiction that's entirely new.

We'll work with practical techniques to let your imagination play with memory, discovering how the senses and emotions can deepen your storytelling and take you somewhere unexpected. This isn't memoir—it's about that alchemical process of turning what was real into something wholly imagined.

Writing from memory can stir up strong feelings, so we'll move at your own pace. You're always in control of what you explore and what you share. This is a supportive space where writers encourage each other's work with respect, honesty, and generosity.

Workshop Host: Colette Coen was a runner-up in the Mslexia Short Story Competition 2023 and was the 2024 Scriever for the Federation of Writers (Scotland). She regularly participates in live and online events and judged the 2025 short story competition for the Scottish Association of Writers. She also facilitates writing workshops, is a professional member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading and runs Beech Editorial Services.
She’s been widely published, most recently in Postbox, Causeway/Cabshair and Dreich. Her short story collection Forgotten Dreams, and novel, All the Places I’ve Ever Been, are available on Amazon.
http://colettecoen.wordpress.com
www.scottishbooktrust.com/authors/colette-coen