Class Description
Autofiction is the stories we tell about ourselves; it is self-narrative freed from the constraints of fact. As Dorothy Allison wrote in the afterword of her novel Bastard Out of Carolina, “memoir did not seem to me to be able to shape in that direction I wanted the story to shape, at least not any memoir I could write. If a story is a well-told lie, then that seems to me what I needed.”
In choosing whether to write about a subject or experience through fiction or nonfiction, we must ask ourselves: what kind of truth are we most interested in getting at? How can highly autobiographical fiction, or autofiction, interrogate our own lives, self-constructions, and previously cemented narratives and bring forth great emotional insights? How can realism be fused and alchemized with the imagined, how can memories of what was become realizations of what could be?
In this 16-session intensive, designed for writers with prior workshop experience, we will dive into the questions and challenges a writer faces when turning one’s life into character, plot, and a compelling narrative. We will work on how to balance the verisimilitude of autofiction with tackling the creative impasses or "plotlessness" the genre may present (are our lives plot?). We will begin by exploring autobiographical material, themes, and characters that can inform our own fiction. Each class, we will read sample texts to unpack techniques and effects, then use what we learn to generate and workshop your own autofiction.
This workshop is for writers looking to generate and revise an autofictional project and are ready to take on a significant reading load of both external texts and student work, contribute written feedback to peer manuscripts, and experiment with exercises designed to push the boundaries of what autofiction can unlock. The two-hour class sessions will be supplemented with additional revision periods, private writing periods, individual conferences with the instructor, and opportunities to converse with guest authors. These four months will also include a guided journaling practice on the nature on the project, record-keeping from real life, and exploring autofiction and hybridity in other art forms, from poetry to performance art to music albums.
Below is a quick list of key dates and information. More details about the program can be found via the side links.
Key Dates & Information
- Location: The 2026-2027 Autofiction Immersive will take place on Zoom.
- Application Opens: Monday, March 30, 2026
- Submission Deadline: Tuesday, June 30, 2026
- Notifications sent: August 2026
- Program Duration: September 2026–February 2027
- Class Time: Wednesdays from 6:30-8:30pm ET
- First Day of Class: Wednesday, September 23, 2026
- Tuition Total: $2,295
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.