A warm welcome to our new subscribers! This is the GAB Gazette, a highlight reel from the world of Guided Autobiography.
In this Newsletter
Announcements: GAB Fest 2024
Booklist: the Gift of a Long Life
the Business: self-publishing resources
Article Roundup: 2G Vancouver, Nell Painter, and Psychology Today
Collaboration Opportunities: ICLIP call for abstracts
Community Poll: Did your elders save their writing for you?
Announcements
GAB Fest 2024 is happening! This one-day event will be hosted in Pasadena on March 23. Mark your calendars, we will share more details.
Booklist
The third GAB Anthology, titled the Gift of a Long Life: Personal Stories on Aging will release at GAB Fest in March of 2024.
the Business
There was a lively exchange in the GAB google group about self-publishing and print-on-demand options for GAB groups and individuals. Mimi Holmes shared a wealth of resources from her experience with helping students self-publish.
Among the resources she found useful were Lulu and Blurb, as well as a free digital publishing resource for writers in Minnesota called MNWritesMNreads.
For people who want to DIY their self-published book, Emma Fulenwider (who manages the Birren Center Press) recommended Blurb for printing family heirloom books, Amazon KDP for self-publishing, Atticus software for formatting and Canva for cover design.
There are several boutique self-publishing service providers in the GAB community, we recommend querying the Google Group for quotes from within the membership if your goal for 2024 is to finally publish that book.
Article Roundup
One of our GAB groups received some press for their forthcoming book, a yet-to-be titled anthology of their essays on being second-generation descendants of Holocaust survivors. You can read Echoes of Resilience on page 19 of the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre’s fall newsletter.
Nell Painter talks about not being afraid to learn something new later in life in her interview on Being Old in Art School
And Psychology Today published an article reviewing several studies on the healing impact of narrative expressive writing.
Calls for Collaboration
The International Center for Life Story Innovations and Practice will host a virtual conference, “Keeping Our Legacy Alive: Honoring the Past and Embracing the Future,” on March 7-8, 2024. They invite GAB professionals to present their life story research, innovations, and best practices. If that’s you, the submission process is open until December 1, please submit your abstract here: 2024 abstract submission.
Community Poll
Last month, we asked how much time you spend writing in a given week. The results were a very even spread, with 5-10 hours in the lead, followed by a tie between less than one hour and 1-3 hours, and then 3-5 hours and more than ten hours tied in last place.
This month, we want to know whether you have the writings of your ancestors. Tell us who in generations previous recorded their thoughts for you to treasure!