MEM 119 W — Exquisite Attention: Personal Essay Workshop
Quarter: Fall
Instructor(s): Yohanca Delgado
Date(s): Sep 23—Dec 2
Class Recording Available: Yes
Class Meeting Day: Wednesdays
Class Meeting Time: 12:00—1:00 pm (PT)
Please Note: No class the week of November 23
Tuition: $1040
Refund Deadline: Sep 25
Unit(s): 2
Enrollment Limit: 18
Status: Registration opens Aug 17, 8:30 am (PT)
Quarter: Fall
Day: Wednesdays
Duration: 10 weeks
Time: 12:00—1:00 pm (PT)
Date(s): Sep 23—Dec 2
Unit(s): 2
Tuition: $1040
Refund Deadline: Sep 25
Instructor(s): Yohanca Delgado
Enrollment Limit: 18
Recording Available: Yes
Status: Registration opens Aug 17, 8:30 am (PT)
Please Note: No class the week of November 23
How do we transform the raw material of life into art? To write a compelling personal essay, we must first learn how to pay close attention to our own experiences. The art emerges from capturing, as vividly and precisely as possible, how those experiences changed us.
In this course, we’ll dive into the fundamentals of the personal essay form, exploring persona, world-building, pacing, scene, and voice. We’ll study how writers with different styles, such as Vivian Gornick and Hanif Abdurraqib, approach these concepts. In the first four weeks, students will submit brief pieces exploring techniques from narrative nonfiction, poetry, and fiction. Then, everyone will workshop an essay (2,000-word maximum) for peer and instructor feedback. Throughout the course, we'll draw inspiration from essayists including Roland Barthes, T Kira Madden, Susan Orlean, and Jaquira Díaz. Expect to leave with an essay draft, a revision plan, and a deeper understanding of how careful observation shapes meaningful personal narrative.
In this course, we’ll dive into the fundamentals of the personal essay form, exploring persona, world-building, pacing, scene, and voice. We’ll study how writers with different styles, such as Vivian Gornick and Hanif Abdurraqib, approach these concepts. In the first four weeks, students will submit brief pieces exploring techniques from narrative nonfiction, poetry, and fiction. Then, everyone will workshop an essay (2,000-word maximum) for peer and instructor feedback. Throughout the course, we'll draw inspiration from essayists including Roland Barthes, T Kira Madden, Susan Orlean, and Jaquira Díaz. Expect to leave with an essay draft, a revision plan, and a deeper understanding of how careful observation shapes meaningful personal narrative.
YOHANCA DELGADO
Author
Yohanca Delgado's work appears in The Believer, TIME, The New York Times, The Best American Short Stories, The O. Henry Prize Stories, The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy, and Janelle Monáe's collection The Memory Librarian. She has taught writing for The Kenyon Review, Tin House, and One Story. She received an MFA from American University and a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship. She is a recent National Book Critics Circle Emerging Critics Fellow and a former Stegner Fellow. Textbooks for this course:
There are no required textbooks; however, some fee-based online readings may be assigned.