Class Description
Inspired by flash and short shorts, this workshop introduces techniques for creating short pieces and arranging them into a longer memoir. While many memoirs are organized with a linear timeline and clear transitions from one section to another, the mosaic is built from fragments, often separated by white space, that illuminate different facets of an overall theme. If you're just starting out and find a lengthy project intimidating, or you want to shuffle scenes in your memoir to break up dense blocks of narrative and gain new insights, this workshop can help. We'll look at work by Nick Flynn, Sonja Livingston, Carmen Maria Machado, Aimee Nezhukumatathil, and even a poem by Kevin Young, to see how writers work in this form. In-class writing exercises will prompt you to begin short pieces and offer on-the-spot feedback if you want to read your work aloud. You'll also have a chance to bring in one short piece that everyone reads in advance for in-class discussion and written comments from the instructor. Use what you've learned and practiced in class to use as building blocks for a memoir.
Please note: Class does not meet Tuesday, November 5th.
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.