Class Description
A 10-week workshop for writers who are seriously engaged in writing a book-length memoir and want to improve their craft. We will focus on helping you find a unique angle, effective structure, and distinctive voice for your memoir. Each week we'll look at exemplary readings and discuss theme development, traditional vs non-traditional structures, characterization, scene vs. summary, time and pacing, narrative arc, outside research, and the real-world consequences and ethical considerations of writing and publishing true-to-life stories. Memoirists we'll study include, but are not limited to: Mary Karr, Sarah M. Broom, Alex Marzano-Lesnevich, Joan Wickersham, and Daniel Mendelsohn. You have three opportunities to workshop material from your memoir over the 10 weeks, and will receive feedback from both your classmates and the instructor. Equally important, each week you are expected to read and critique three of your fellow student's submissions. While new writing is encouraged, interested writers should also take this as an opportunity to revise and work through problems with an existing manuscript.
Please note: In your application, be sure to include a one-paragraph summary of your memoir project as part of the writing sample.
Important dates:
The application deadline has now passed. Applications submitted after September 5th will not be reviewed.
The payment deadline for admitted students is Monday, September 12th.
To apply, please click the red "SEE DIRECTIONS TO APPLY" button in the top right corner of this page. This application will ask you to detail your workshop experience. It will also ask you to upload a 5-10 page writing sample. Please make sure this writing sample is in Microsoft Word, double-spaced, and in 12-point font. For tracking purposes, your name should appear in the file name (e.g. Smith.Memoir Title.Submission). Decisions will be emailed to applicants approx. 1 week after the deadline. You can also track the status of your application in your Grubstreet profile. Please make sure your application is complete before you finally click "APPLY." If you have any technical difficulties filling out this application, please email [email protected]. You will receive a confirmation email once our system has received your submission.
Class Format
This class will take place using Zoom videoconferencing. About 15 minutes before your class is scheduled to begin, you'll receive an email from your instructor with a link to join the class meeting!
Scholarship Information
Please note: In order to be eligible for acceptance into an advanced class, you must submit an application via the “See Directions to Apply” button above. You can then submit a separate scholarship application via the “Apply for Scholarship” button. We cannot consider applicants who only fill out a scholarship application without applying to the class itself.
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 more detailed information about GrubStreet scholarships, including how to contribute to scholarship funds for other students, 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.