24PearlStreet Workshops and Events
ASYNCHRONOUS with LIVE ELEMENTS
Annie Dillard once said “You have to take pains not to hang on the reader’s arms, like a drunk, and say ‘And then I did this and it was so interesting.’” What is it, exactly, that makes personal narrative truly engaging? What makes great memoir what it is versus simply a recollection of experience or an information dump? In this generative memoir workshop, I will explore the concept of curation in the writing of memoir; together, we will focus on the separation of wheat from chaff within the narrative, and learn how to find the kernel — the heart of the story — that teems with life, even at its most deceptively subdued. Through readings, exercises, and the sharing of work, you will practice writing with intimacy and clarity, and learn to hone — and trust — your own distinct voices and experiences, and to find the extraordinary in the mundane. Readings will include Kerri Arsenault, Annie Dillard, Mark Doty, Alexander Chee, Vivian Gornick, and others. This workshop will include a weekly ZOOM meeting.
Optional Live Elements: optional ZOOM meeting 1x a week.
Biography
Elissa Altman is the author of the new hybrid memoir Permission: The New Memoirist and the Courage to Create, coming from Godine Books in March 2025, and the critically-acclaimed memoirs Motherland, Treyf, and Poor Man's Feast. An award-winning contributor to publications including The Bitter Southerner, Orion, Narrative, LitHub, and the Washington Post, she is the winner of a James Beard Award in narrative food writing, and a finalist for a Lambda Award in memoir, and The Frank McCourt Prize in memoir. She teaches memoir and nonfiction writing at Fine Arts Work Center, Castle Hill Center for the Arts, College of William and Mary, and beyond.
