Events | Presentations & Workshops
Chris Higgins is an educator, writer, and presenter who creates engaging, story-based sessions rooted in history, place, and lived experience. With a 29-year teaching career and ongoing work in writing and digital storytelling, his sessions are designed to be accessible, conversational, and grounded in real material—maps, images, archives, and personal experience.
While many talks draw on Toronto history, the broader focus is on helping people see their own experiences, communities, and memories as meaningful sources of story.
Program Options
1. Classroom History Presentation (Grades 6–12)
An immersive look at Toronto’s past that brings history down to the streets and sidewalks. Students explore how the city changed over time—from the town of York to modern Toronto—through maps, archival material, and vivid storytelling.
Topics can include everyday life, crime, punishment, and how diverse communities shaped the city.
2. Heritage & Historical Societies
A place-based exploration of Toronto neighbourhoods using maps, newspapers, directories, and archival images.
Sessions focus on how the city has evolved over time, comparing past and present while uncovering lesser-known stories beneath familiar places.
3. Storytelling for Seniors & Community Groups
A guided approach to turning life experience into story.
Participants explore how to shape memories into meaningful narratives—shared through conversation, writing, audio, or simple video.
No technical experience required.
4. Retirement & “Next Chapter” Sessions
A reflective and practical session for those entering retirement or considering a new direction.
Participants are encouraged to take on a personal project—writing, storytelling, or creative work—and are introduced to simple ways to get started.
What These Sessions Offer
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Storytelling & Memory
Explore how personal and local stories are shaped, remembered, and shared -
History Through Everyday Experience
Use familiar places, archives, and lived experience as entry points into deeper understanding -
Creative Approaches to Learning
Combine discussion, images, and media to make ideas accessible and engaging -
Telling Your Own Story
Learn simple ways to shape memories, experiences, and research into meaningful narratives
Who These Sessions Are For
- Schools and learning environments
- Libraries, book clubs, and cultural organizations
- Seniors’ residences and community groups
- Heritage groups and historical societies
- Anyone interested in story, place, memory, and local history
The Work Behind the Sessions
Chris Higgins draws on three published books, each offering a different entry point into history, research, storytelling, and place. In his own words:
“There was a turning point…
…as I approached retirement, I began thinking carefully about how I wanted to spend the next chapter of my life. One goal stood out clearly: a life-long ambition to write and publish books.
Rather than waiting, I chose to begin that work while still teaching. Since November 2020, that decision has led to the completion of three books, each grounded in research, storytelling, and a deep interest in how people connect to place, memory, and history.
I learned how to shape my own experiences into stories—most fully through writing and publishing books, but also through video and audio work. That process can take many forms, and it’s something I now actively pursue in my work with others.”
Author Page on Amazon
The Books Behind the Talks
Brick by Brick: Swansea Public School, 1892–2020
This deeply researched local history began with a single filing cabinet of forgotten documents and grew into a layered portrait of a school and its community across more than a century.
This work resonates with former students, educators, community members, and anyone interested in how to study a familiar subject deeply enough to uncover new stories. Presentations based on Brick by Brick often focus on research methods, archival digging, oral history, and how everyday institutions quietly shape neighbourhood identity.
Riverstoryz: Conversations on the Humber River
At first glance, the Humber River feels well known — a place we walk, photograph, and celebrate. This book looks beneath that surface, uncovering long-forgotten stories of crime, drownings, pollution, erosion, industry, and environmental change.
It works especially well as a case study in urban geography, environmental history, and hidden infrastructure, showing how layers of history sit quietly beneath the landscapes we think we know.
The Gaol Carpenter’s Diary
This darker work of historical fiction may appeal to fans of true crime, historical fiction, and those curious about the more complicated side of Toronto’s past.
The book tells eleven notorious 19th-century Toronto crime stories — once widely known, now largely forgotten — and explores the social, legal, and moral worlds surrounding them. Based on archival records and period sources, the novel examines poverty, race, addiction, mental health, justice, and public punishment, including executions carried out at two of Toronto’s early jails.
Possible Program Formats
Programs can be shaped as single sessions or short series, depending on interest and comfort level. They are designed to be accessible, conversational, and adaptable to different abilities.
Participants might:
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Share and Shape Personal Stories
Guided storytelling sessions where memories are explored and shaped into spoken or written narratives -
Create Short Audio Recordings (Podcast-Style)
Simple, informal recordings of personal stories or conversations that can be shared with family -
Develop Short Videos or Digital Stories
Combining photos, voice, and simple editing tools to create meaningful keepsakes -
Write Personal or Family Histories
Turning memories, documents, and photographs into short written pieces -
Participate in Live Storytelling Sessions
Group-based sessions where stories are shared aloud in a relaxed, supportive setting
Programs can be as simple as a single reflective session, or developed into small projects over time. No prior experience with writing or technology is needed.