Class Description
A ten-week workshop intended for writers who want to think seriously about memoir in the context of narrative voice and structure. We’ll work with prompts, exercises, and strategies for revision to help participants see their memoirs in a new light. Each student will be expected to present a new or revised piece for workshop every other week. While new writing is encouraged, interested writers should consider this an opportunity to work through problems that have arisen with an existing manuscript. Students should expect to generate a good amount of new writing during the workshop. Please bring the first two pages of your memoir to the first class. No computers will be allowed in class; all notes must be taken by hand. Authors will include:
- Annie Dillard
- James Baldwin
- Vivian Gornick
- Denis Johnson
- Nick Flynn
- Joan Didion
- Zadie Smith
- Ralph Ellison
- Tobias Wolff
- Lucy Grealy
The submission deadline for this class has passed.
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.