LEWISTON — The hot topic and popular activity of writing personal and family memoirs will be the focus of an upcoming program for the monthly gathering of “La Rencontre” at the Franco-American Heritage Center on Friday, Sept. 2.

According to Denis Ledoux of Soleil Lifestory Network, writing lifestories appeals to more people than ever before. Many people are motivated to preserve their family histories as a legacy for future generations, and others seek greater understanding of own their lives through the creative project of writing down their stories. Author and autobiography-writing workshop leader Ledoux will speak on the topic of remembering and recording such.

The public is invited to attend at a cost of $7 per person. Lunch will be served at 11:30 and will be a full course ham dinner with scalloped potatoes, mixed vegetables, dessert and beverage. This will be followed by the talk entitled “Turning Memories into Memoirs.”

Ledoux is director of the Soleil Lifestory Network, an international organization of professional writers and teachers who lead workshops, seminars and other programs to help people from all walks of life to write their personal and family stories. He has published “Turning Memories Into Memoirs: A Handbook for Writing Lifestories,” now in its third edition, and “The Photo Scribe — A Writing Guide: How to Write the Stories Behind Your Photographs.”

In 1989, he won the Maine Fiction Award for “Mountain Dance & Other Stories.” His other titles include “What Became of Them and Other Stories from Franco-America,” and “Lives in Translation: An Anthology of Contemporary Franco-American Writings,” which he edited. His short fiction has twice been honored with the Maine Writing Fellowship Award.

Reservations can be made by calling Claudette at 786-6936 or the Franco Center at 783-1585.