Intergenerational Memoir Project with McMaster University

Since 2020, Hamilton Aging in Community has paired senior volunteers with McMaster students majoring in Aging and Health. Each term about 15 pairs work together on the senior’s memoir project. Sometimes, the senior is collecting material written over the years. Sometimes, the senior is writing down life stories for the first time, often at the urging of loved ones.

Please contact me, Ellen Ryan, at [email protected] for additional information and to inquire about taking part in an upcoming semester.

PUBLICATION FROM THE Intergenerational Memoir Project, January, 2024

Our Intergenerational Memoir Project (Hamilton Aging in Community and McMaster University) is featured in a set of nine articles in the January 2024 issue of SAGEING, a Canadian online journal.

https://sageing.ca/sageing47.html. Our articles (edited by Ellen Ryan and Stephanie Wickens) appear on Pp 4-31. The Cover Image is from Steph’s 5 paintings of the life cycle of tulips.

MEMOIR FEST

Each year, we hold a Memoir Fest online to feature selections of memoirs produced within the Intergenerational Project. See these videos to experience the benefits of writing life stories, especially with a young partner on the way to working in the aging and health field.

Memoir Fest 2021

Memoir Fest 2022

Memoir Fest 2023

Memoir Fest 2024