Advanced Memoir Workshop - Remote!

Class Description

A 10-week workshop for writers who want to think seriously about book-length memoir in the context of narrative voice, structure and improving their craft. We’ll work with prompts, exercises, and consider strategies for revision to help you see your memoir in a new light. Each week we'll look at exemplary readings and tackle issues such as characterization, description, scene vs. narrative summary, time and pacing, arc, outside research, and the real-world consequences and ethical considerations when writing and publishing true-to-life stories. Memoirists we will study include, but are not limited to: Cinelle Barnes, Edwidge Danticat, Mira Jacob, Maxine Hong Kingston, T Kira Madden, Alex Marzano-Lesnevich, Grace Talusan, and Jesmyn Ward. You should expect to present a new or revised excerpt from your memoir for workshop three times over the course of the class for feedback from both your classmates and the instructor, plus a fourth time at the end of the course for additional instructor feedback. Students are expected to read and comment on three of their fellow student's submissions each week. While new writing is encouraged, interested writers should also consider this an opportunity to work through problems that have arisen with an existing manuscript.

Important dates:

The application deadline is Monday, January 4th.

The payment deadline for admitted students is Monday, January 11th.

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.

This class will be hosted using live Zoom meetings! You will be able to participate in class via Zoom videoconference from wherever you’re most comfortable. All you’ll need is a laptop or a phone! 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 via Zoom–no need to download anything or sign up for Zoom in advance! If you have questions about remote learning, please feel free to reach out to [email protected] for more information.

For a glimpse at how remote learning works, look no further than the deep Zoom discussion of writing and literature below:

Scholarship Information

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.