Class Description
This workshop is designed for intermediate and advanced essay writers who are already working on personal essay projects who want to receive regular feedback in a supportive and constructively critical environment. The class will include in-depth workshops of student writing, discussions on the art of the personal essay and relevant craft essays, and readings of works in the genre.
Each week, we’ll explore a different topic or theme to inspire our work, focusing on elements like finding the central question/conflict/tension; improving scene-writing, reflective voice and use of summary and backstory; playing with pacing, time, chronology and point of view; and experimenting with form and structure. We will read published examples from authors like but not limited to, Eula Biss, Roxane Gay, Jacquira Diaz, Leslie Jamison, Virginia Woolf, Jerald Walker, Ryan Van Meter, Jonathan Lethem, Brian Doyle, Ira Sukrungruang, and E.B. White, and study the craft behind them. We'll also read excerpts from such craft books as Tell It Slant (Miller/Paola); Crafting The Personal Essay (Moore); Writing the Memoir (Barrington) and The Art of Memoir (Karr), and other craft essays.
In-class writing prompts will encourage students to try their hand at different elements of personal essay writing. You’ll present drafts of at least 2 essays to the class (or more, depending on enrollment; 5,000 words maximum per essay); these will be shared ahead of time and will receive oral feedback and optional written feedback from your fellow students and instructor. Feedback will be designed to guide your drafts for the next revision. By the end of the workshop, you will have received feedback on drafts of 2 essays, and better mastered the genre and craft elements of the personal essay. Note: Since the content of personal essays often reflect intimate issues, controversial views, and real-life situations, we will ensure that conversations around the work and its content take place in a safe, supportive, and respectful space.
Please note: Class does not meet July 15th
Writing Roadmap: We've created a simple, goal-based writing roadmap to help you find the perfect GrubStreet course for your writing needs.
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.