LIVE via ZOOM: 6pm-8pm (Eastern Time)

Nathalie Sarraute said, “Poetry is what makes the invisible appear.” Of course this is the goal of memoir as well. What drives memoir? What questions fuel it? How does a memoirist select a narrative from the whole of their life? How do we choose a compelling subject? What form best serves the material? What can we borrow from the practice of poetry to access the subconscious? What narrative techniques are essential for clarity?

This intensive workshop meets for one week, two-hours a day, and is designed for writers looking for new ways into writing the stories that matter most to them.

We’ll work to discover our individual obsessions and to clarify the questions that propel our writing. This course is generative and includes experimentation with form. We’ll look at selections of work from other writers including Dorothy Allison, Chris Dennis, Nick Flynn, Tessa Fontaine, Deborah Taffa, Natalie Kusz ,and Jesmyn Ward.

We’ll also use photographs to unlock memory and to look for points of connection between the seemingly divergent, exploring the power of metaphor as well. By week’s end, we will each have written the draft of a new memoir piece, and on Friday, we’ll have a celebratory class reading of works-in-progress with the opportunity for verbal feedback for all who wish to participate.