Local author Robin Edgar will speak about her work as a teacher and coach in reminiscence

writing at the Lanier Library on Tuesday, Jan. 15 at noon.  The program is free and everyone is welcome.

Edgar has been a professional writer for more than 30 years. She has been most recently concentrating on teaching workshops in reminiscence writing at venues such as the John C. Campbell Folk School and Wildacres Retreat, as well as for organizations such as the National Hospice and Paliative Care Organization and The Alzheimer’s Association. She has also written articles for “The Charlotte Observer,” “Our State Magazine,” “Skirt! Magazine” and the “Tryon Daily Bulletin.”

Her book, “In My Mother’s Kitchen: An Introduction to the Healing Power of Reminiscence,” is now in its second edition and is written as a guide to writing memoirs  and autobiographical essays. It is used as a textbook for a writing course at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Fla.

Matt Lauer, co-anchor of NBC’s “Today Show” said of the book: “For all of us who have loved, lost, grieved and grown from the experience, ‘In My Mother’s Kitchen’ serves as a poignant reminder of our shared connections to family and friends – the use of rituals providing an emotional yet comforting view of some of life’s most powerful lessons.”

The program is part of the Lanier Library’s Brown Bag Lunch series, which take place on the third Tuesday of every month, and audience members are encouraged to bring a bag lunch if they so wish. Coffee will be provided.

The Lanier Library also wishes to remind writers that the deadline for the 2013 Sidney Lanier Award Poetry Competition is Feb. 15. The competition is open to poets from North and South Carolina in adult and high school student categories.  For more information about the competition, contact the library or visit its website at www.lanierlib.org.

– article submitted by Frances Flynn