CW 115 — Between Memory and Imagination: A Generative Retreat for Fiction and Memoir Writers
Quarter: Fall
Instructor(s): Liza Monroy, Malena Watrous
Date(s): Oct 10—Oct 11
Class Recording Available: No
Class Meeting Day: Saturday and Sunday
Grade Restriction: No letter grade
Class Meeting Time: 10:00 am—4:00 pm (PT)
Tuition: $400
Refund Deadline: Oct 3
Unit(s): 1
Enrollment Limit: 30
Status: Registration opens Aug 17, 8:30 am (PT)
Quarter: Fall
Day: Saturday and Sunday
Duration: 2 days
Time: 10:00 am—4:00 pm (PT)
Date(s): Oct 10—Oct 11
Unit(s): 1
Tuition: $400
Refund Deadline: Oct 3
Instructor(s): Liza Monroy, Malena Watrous
Grade Restriction: No letter grade
Enrollment Limit: 30
Recording Available: No
Status: Registration opens Aug 17, 8:30 am (PT)
“What is a memory? When an unexpected memory comes calling, who answers?”
—Lynda Barry
The artist and writer Lynda Barry believes that the membrane between memory and imagination is thin, and so do we. In this weekend retreat, we’ll explore that space, moving between lived experience and invention to generate new material. Drawing on inspiration from authors such as Jo Ann Beard, Justin Torres, and Aimee Bender, we’ll experiment with lyric memory, voice-driven autofiction, and surreal association to make unexpected connections and discoveries. The exercises will serve both fiction writers and memoirists, whether you’re deepening an existing project, starting something new, or trying to get unstuck.
Each day includes four hours of writing in short, focused segments, small-group sharing, and a lunch break. We’ll close the retreat with a group reading, during which you’ll have the option to share a piece of new work. You’ll leave with new pages, fresh momentum, and reusable approaches to keep invigorating your prose.
—Lynda Barry
The artist and writer Lynda Barry believes that the membrane between memory and imagination is thin, and so do we. In this weekend retreat, we’ll explore that space, moving between lived experience and invention to generate new material. Drawing on inspiration from authors such as Jo Ann Beard, Justin Torres, and Aimee Bender, we’ll experiment with lyric memory, voice-driven autofiction, and surreal association to make unexpected connections and discoveries. The exercises will serve both fiction writers and memoirists, whether you’re deepening an existing project, starting something new, or trying to get unstuck.
Each day includes four hours of writing in short, focused segments, small-group sharing, and a lunch break. We’ll close the retreat with a group reading, during which you’ll have the option to share a piece of new work. You’ll leave with new pages, fresh momentum, and reusable approaches to keep invigorating your prose.
LIZA MONROY
Author
Liza Monroy is the author of the novels The Distractions and Mexican High, the memoir The Marriage Act, and the essay collection Seeing as Your Shoes Are Soon to Be on Fire. Her work has appeared in The New York Times Modern Love column, The New York Times Magazine, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, Longreads, Newsweek, Self, and The Best American Food Writing. She received an MFA in nonfiction from Columbia and has taught writing at Columbia and UC Santa Cruz. MALENA WATROUS
Writing Certificate Lead and Creative Writing Coordinator, Stanford Continuing Studies
Malena Watrous is the author of the novel If You Follow Me and co-author of the novel Sparked and the cookbooks My Mexico City Kitchen and Scandinavian from Scratch. She has contributed to The New York Times and the San Francisco Chronicle, among other publications. Watrous was a Stegner Fellow at Stanford and received an MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where she was a Truman Capote Fellow. Textbooks for this course:
There are no required textbooks; however, some fee-based online readings may be assigned.