Class Description
No one can fully stand apart from the world they write about. No one can fully look at themselves outside the context of the world that cultivated that self. To write about one is to write about the other, and to implicate the other. In this class, we’ll look at how personal essays can examine the self, but more importantly, how they can use the self as a way to examine the larger cultures to which that self belongs. We will discuss and practice strategies authors can use to characterize themselves (and others) as fully realized individuals who are parts of and products of larger social systems. Topics to be explored include authorial ethos, voice, tone, balancing storytelling techniques with interiority and reflection, the character developments between the author’s younger and present-tense selves, negative capability, and the ethical challenges of being honest with oneself and maintaining empathy for others.
We will not workshop existing work. There will be intermittent mini-lectures, but we will spend more time reading, discussing, and doing in-class writing and exercises. We will also discuss some of the writing students produce in class and work to help each other develop strategies that suit the situation of each individual piece of writing.
This class would be most appropriate for those who already have some foundational knowledge of the conventions of nonfiction.
Part of GrubStreet's Special Topics in the Nonfiction, a group of classes dedicated to exploring different craft elements of creative nonfiction. For more class offerings, click here.
Thanks to the excellent literary citizenship of our donors, scholarships are available for all GrubStreet classes. To apply, click the gray "APPLY FOR SCHOLARSHIP" button. In order to be considered for a scholarship, you must complete your application at least one week before the start date of a class. Please await our scholarship committee's decision before registering for the class. We cannot hold spots in classes, so the sooner you apply, the better. Scholarships cannot be applied retroactively.
For more detailed information about GrubStreet scholarships, including how to contribute to scholarship funds for other students, click here.
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.