Dr Rie Natalenko, author of The Family Memory Project, will be giving a talk on how to gather, record and preserve family stories on Saturday, August 8 between 2.30pm and 4pm.

The talk will cover questions and triggers you can employ to facilitate storytelling, coping with common objections that elderly relatives have to telling stories, approaches to recording stories and the best ways to store all your research.

Dr Natalenko is an award-winning screenwriter, novelist, poet and short filmmaker.

The talk will be held in the auditorium underneath Kiama Library and tickets are $5 per person. All ages welcome. For more information, phone the library on 4233 1133.

The play Gloria's Handbag is sure to be a real highlight of the year, presented by the Friends of Kiama Library on August 13 from 7pm.

Performed by New Zealander Helen Moulder and co-written with Australian Sue Rider, the play focuses on the increasing accumulation of stuff in our consumer society and the far-reaching challenges this presents for society as a whole. How much stuff do we need?

The story is set in 2021 in Nelson, New Zealand and pensioner Gloria, aged 97, hasn't long to live.

Her son Craig is pushing her to move to "retireville", but she wants to die in her own home and, on a whim, Gloria buys an extraordinary designer handbag. This purchase sets off a series of unusual events which transform Gloria's remaining days and enables her to send a message to the future.

Moulder has been working in the theatre for 40 years in the UK, New Zealand and Australia with extensive film and television credits to her name.

She toured Australian libraries in 2012 with Playing Miss Havisham to help celebrate the 200th anniversary of Charles Dickens' birth.

Tickets are $10 a person or $8 for members of the Friends of Kiama Library and under 18s, with limited seating available. Call the library for more information.