Class Description
About the GrubStreet Memoir Generator:
An intensive program designed to help students in the early stages of writing a full-length memoir. The program will provide an environment that encourages exploration and supports the writing process, and it will offer an in-depth study of the book-length memoir form.
Overview and Goals:
The Memoir Generator will take 12 students through the early stages of writing a memoir, giving them a chance to create as many as 150 pages of a draft while thoroughly exploring the relationship between the full-length memoir form and their own material. The program will have four phases. In Phase I, students will spend four weeks studying two book-length memoirs and participating in craft lectures, discussions, and exercises designed to generate ideas and pages. In Phase II, students will spend 12 weeks writing and workshopping using the Memoir in Progress method, reading scenes or sections aloud for on-the-spot feedback. In Phase III, which lasts 4 weeks, students will be paired up for weekly check-ins, but they will write largely on their own. Finally, in Phase IV, the class will meet four times to talk about the possibilities for these new pages, the new sense of the story that has emerged, and next steps.
This class is not an alternative to the Memoir Incubator, which is a year-long program for students wishing to workshop and complete a book-length memoir manuscript in preparation for pursuing publication. The goal of this class is to help students generate pages and gain a deep knowledge of the fundamentals of the memoir form. It is our hope that after taking the Memoir Generator, students will be ready to apply to the Incubator or to an MFA program in nonfiction.
Key Dates and Information:
Location:
- The 2025-2026 Memoir Generator will take place on Zoom. Writers everywhere are encouraged to apply.
Application Info:
- Application Opens: Monday, April 14, 2025
- Submission Deadline: Monday, June 16, 2025 at 11:59pm EST
- Decision Notifications: The week of July 14, 2025
Program Dates:
- Program Duration: September 2025 - April 2026
- Class Time: Thursdays, 6:00 to 9:00pm EST
- First Day of Class: September 11, 2025
Free Information Sessions:
Financial Info:
- Tuition Total: $2,525
- Scholarship Info: Available in the amount of 25% to 75% off the total tuition cost. The optional and brief application is attached at the end of the standard program application for your convenience.
This class will take place using Zoom videoconferencing. After registering, a yellow Resources tab will appear in this section containing a link to join class. Please note that you will need to be logged into view the Resources tab.
Zoom Participation:
In our experience, the intimate nature of a writing workshop benefits from on-camera participation. Students are of course welcome to turn their camera off whenever they need to, but it is a community norm for cameras to be on most of the time. You can learn more about using Zoom here.
Zoom Accessibility:
You can enable closed captioning at any time during the meeting by clicking the CC button at the bottom of the screen. If you'd like to access the transcript after class, please make sure to let your instructor ahead of time that you'd like a copy.