Courses

Have you taken a beginning memoir or personal essay writing course, gotten a great start on your project, and then stalled or become uncertain how to proceed through the murky middle? Or maybe you are making progress on a memoir but you miss the energy of a workshop and wish to continue studying the craft of personal writing with an instructor who can provide targeted exercises and sophisticated models for writing about your life in a meaningful way. If so, this is the course for you.

We will study examples of personal writing by authors like Anne Carson, Eula Biss, Elif Batuman, and others who have written memoirs that innovate both within and outside of the formal traditions, including hybrids of journalism and personal writing, deep dives into personal subjects that twin with passions or areas of expertise, and avant-garde lyric memoirs. You will write and revise at least two short essays and one longer memoir chapter or essay. Workshops will serve as the springboard for our larger class conversations about theme and craft. A variety of creative prompts, critical exercises, and assigned readings will foster your understanding and appreciation of the range of forms a memoir can take, as well as your growth as a creative writer.