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SUMMARY:Journeys of Hope - An Evening with Alison Marshall
DESCRIPTION:Love\, Migration\, and Stories That Echo Across Generations\n\nAlison Marshall in conversation with Sita Brand\nWednesday 17th June | 7pm | The Joinery\, Settle and Online | £20 (includes signed book) \nIn a drawer somewhere\, there are letters. Faded ink on fragile paper. Words written across oceans\, across decades\, across the chasm between one life and another. \nJoin us for an intimate evening as Sita speaks with Alison Marshall about Journeys of Hope: The Letters of Meyer and Sonia \, a powerful true story of migration\, family\, and survival. \nThe Story:\nMeyer Fortes and Sonia Donen grew up in a Jewish immigrant community in South Africa\, where they fell in love. In 1927\, Meyer set off alone to study in London. Sonia stayed behind. Their letters chart their hopes\, fears\, disappointments and successes as Meyer struggles to make a life and prepare for Sonia’s arrival. \nTheir story braids with others: Meyer’s father\, Nathan’s journey to Memphis and Leeds\, half-sister Annie’s incarceration on Ellis Island\, Sonia’s escape from the Russian Civil War. The letters offer unique insights into universal challenges\, drawing moving parallels between their 1920s experience and the migrations that came before and after\, including contemporary stories unfolding in Eastern Europe today. \nIn this conversation\, explore: \n\nThe moment of discovering letters that rewrite your family story\nLove tested by distance\, danger\, and uncertainty\nWhy migration patterns echo across generations\nWhat gets carried (and lost) when we cross borders\nHow researching the past reveals present-day witness\nReading both what letters say and what they cannot say\n\nYour ticket includes: \n\nIntimate conversation guided by Sita’s warmth and wisdom\nSigned copy of the book (“I couldn’t put it down”)\nTime for questions and reflection\n\nFor: \n\nAnyone exploring their own family’s migration story\nWriters and storytellers working with heritage narratives\nHistory lovers curious about early 20th century Jewish diaspora\nThose seeking to understand migration with greater nuance and humanity\n\nAbout Alison Marshall: \nLiving in Settle\, Alison discovered her grandparents’ letters and began a journey of research and travel through eastern Europe. This first book combines family memoir\, travelogue\, and cultural history. She’s involved with local refugee support\, bringing contemporary witness to timeless patterns of migration. \nAbout Sita: \nFounder of Settle Stories\, Sita creates spaces where stories build bridges between cultures and beliefs. She brings Buddhist wisdom traditions and deep curiosity to conversations that go deeper than you expect and stay with you longer than the evening lasts. \nLimited to 30 participants for an intimate conversation \nLetters are like threads; they connect what was to what is\, carrying voices across time and distance. Hear a story that echoes across generations and discover what it might reveal about your own.
URL:https://settlestories.org.uk/whats-on-event/journeys-of-hope-an-evening-with-alison-marshall/
LOCATION:The Joinery\, Dawsons Court\, Market Place\, Settle\, North Yorkshire\, BD24 9ED\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Community Event,Talk
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SUMMARY:How to Find and Tell Your Family's Story Workshop
DESCRIPTION:A hands-on workshop with heritage writer Alison Marshall \nThere’s a photograph in your grandmother’s drawer with no names on the back. A recipe that tastes like home but comes with silence instead of story. That question you’ve been meaning to ask before it’s too late. These aren’t just gaps in your family history. They’re thresholds. Invitations into rooms you didn’t know existed. \nPerhaps you’ve felt it\,  that tug toward the past. The sense that something important is slipping away while you wait for the right moment\, the right skills\, the right words. \nHere’s what the old storytellers knew: the stories that matter most are rarely the ones already written down. They’re living in the pause before someone answers. In the recipe\, your aunt makes without measuring. In the way your father goes quiet when certain places are mentioned.\nMaybe you can’t find out the details of your story however\, it’s a window into history. Don’t lose it. \nIn this workshop\, you’ll discover:\n– The Fragments Method: how to transform scraps (a single photograph\, a place name\, a half-memory\, an object tucked in a drawer) into rich narrative that holds generations\n– Voice and Narrative Craft \, techniques for writing family memoir as narrative non-fiction: true stories that read like you can’t put them down\n– The Story Arc: a proven structure that transforms overwhelming research into story that moves people (not just information\, but feeling).\n– Flexible approaches: being open minded about where your research takes you. \nThis workshop is for you if:\n– You’ve been meaning to capture these stories before they’re lost\, and you’re done waiting for “someday”\n– You have boxes of documents\, photographs\, or letters but no idea how to turn them into narrative people would actually want to read\n– You’re secretly worried your family’s story isn’t “dramatic enough” or “interesting enough” (it absolutely is \, you just need to know where to look and how to listen)\n– You know there’s more to the story than what gets said at family gatherings\, and you want to honour what was hard as well as what was hopeful\n– You want to create something meaningful that your children or grandchildren will treasure\,  not just dates and documents\, but story that helps them understand who they are \nWhat you’ll leave with:\n– Practical tools that work immediately\,  not theory\, but techniques you’ll use that same afternoon when you get home\n– Your first interview questions ready to ask\, shaped specifically for the relatives who hold the stories\n– A clear framework for turning research into narrative (so you stop feeling overwhelmed and start feeling excited about the journey)\n– Permission to tell it honestly\, messily\, powerfully \, including the complicated parts\n– The opening lines of something that matters \, quite possibly the story you were always meant to write\n– A personal action plan outlining your research sources\, the main questions to answer\, and next steps \nAbout Alison Marshall:\nAlison knows migration stories aren’t clean or simple. She’s spent years helping people excavate the stories that shaped their families \, holding space for complicated truths\, honouring what was hard\, finding the courage in the crossing and the cost of it too. \nHer own journey began with discovering her grandparents’ letters from the 1920s. What started as curiosity became a book: Journeys of Hope: The Letters of Meyer and Sonia. It charts two people’s emigration journey across continents\, drawing moving parallels between their experience and that of parents\, grandparents\, and relatives who migrated across generations and countries. \nAlison’s approach combines deep research skills with storytelling craft. She won’t just help you gather facts. She’ll help you find the feeling underneath them \, and the narrative arc that makes your family’s story come alive. \nShe lives in Settle in the Yorkshire Dales and is involved with local refugee support activities\, bringing contemporary witness to the timeless patterns of migration\, loss\, and belonging. \nWhat you’ll need:\nNo writing experience required. Just bring: \n\nAny family memorabilia you have (photographs\, letters\, objects  or pictures of them\, even one item is enough to begin)\nCuriosity and willingness to see your family’s story with fresh eyes\n\nWorkshop Details:\nDate: 20th June 2026\nTime: 2 – 5pm\nLocation: The Joinery\, Settle\nInvestment: £45\, including a copy of Alison’s book. ‘Journeys of Hope: The Letters of Meyer and Sonia’ \nLimited to 12 participants so everyone receives personal attention and space to discover their story
URL:https://settlestories.org.uk/whats-on-event/how-to-find-and-tell-your-familys-story-workshop/
LOCATION:The Joinery\, Dawsons Court\, Market Place\, Settle\, North Yorkshire\, BD24 9ED\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Community Event,Workshop
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