Writing with Courage

Writing often asks us to be our most vulnerable and our most courageous. In this workshop, we'll read examples in a variety of forms (poetry, memoir, essays, fiction) that go to deeply vulnerable places, and then explore effective strategies that writers use to turn vulnerability into strong pieces of writing. We will discuss the larger social and personal courage that these writers cultivate so that we can employ our own vulnerability in the service of something larger and in questioning and speaking up to authority. We will do some exercises to get more comfortable with both our weaknesses and our strengths, so that we can become more willing to take risks and free up our writing process. You will leave this class ready to create and share work that can have a bigger, bolder impact—for yourself and your readers.