Finnish American family history. An American History with its own unique geography and culture, can become a family history project that will give pleasure and add meaning across generations.

Although people can join a writers’ group, few writers’ groups exist specifically to write family history or memoir. This one-hour session will include 1. How to use forms to put the narrative together; 2. How to make it honest; 3. How to handle uncomfortable data; 4. How to incorporate maps and photos; 5. How to use personal interviews. In other words: how to make it more than dates and names, becoming, instead, something that people will enjoy reading and sharing with family and friends.

Jim Johnson is a former Duluth Poet Laureate who has published twelve books of poetry, most recently A Good Sauna Always Burns Down (Shipwreckt Books 2025), a collection of work featuring the Finnish-American experience.