Personal Essay and Memoir Jumpstarter

This course has a very clear mission: devote three hours of your week to writing. Through a series of fun, directed writing exercises, we will explore the terrain of memoir and personal essay: we’ll mine for material, construct characters and settings, shape vivid dialogue, understand point of view, and find your voice. Discussions will focus on the process of writing and the strengths and weaknesses of the work we produce in class. We will examine some short published texts with an eye on craft, then write exercises inspired by them, in a supportive and generative environment for both new and practicing writers. Note that this is not a course in the fundamentals of nonfiction, but an opportunity for beginners and advanced students to generate new stories and scenes.

Did you know that we have scholarships available for all GrubStreet classes? To apply, click the "APPLY FOR SCHOLARSHIP" button in the top right corner of this page. In order to be considered for a scholarship, you must complete your scholarship application and await our Scholarship Committee's decision before registering for the class. Scholarships cannot be applied retroactively.