Five Wednesday Sessions
10:30 – 12:30 EST
Dates: 11/12 – 12/17 (OFF 11/26)
In The Art of Memoir, Mary Karr writes that “every writer needs two selves–the generative self and the editor self.” This upper level class is for intermediate and advanced writers looking for both. Writers should be working on a memoir rather than reported nonfiction or journalism, but within the memoir genre, work need not fit a certain style to be a good fit for this class.
We will begin each class with a quick 10 minute generative exercise, and then writers will share and receive feedback. Each writer will have the opportunity to share up to 15 pages of writing during two occasions throughout the summer session.
In addition to discussion of specific pages, we’ll also tackle some of the broader questions of upper-level memoir writing. Students are encouraged to take risks stylistically and emotionally. How do we write about people we love? About people who have harmed us? When does chronological structure work and when is it best to try another narrative frame? ist how factually verifiable do the details in a memoir have to be? How much room is there for more research in a memoir?
Manuscript Class: Each student should submit up to 1500 words of work in progress by the Sunday before class. Amanda will distribute the class set of manuscripts in one bundle on Monday morning and each student should come to class prepared with notes on the work of each other writer, including a one sentence summary of the piece’s central idea, the most resonant moments, wording, or details, and noting places of confusion.
Wednesdays
Amanda Parrish Morgan is the author of STROLLER (Bloomsbury 2022), of which The New Yorker wrote “the central strength of the book is not comprehensiveness but the way the stroller, and Morgan’s experience of her own strollering years, become an omnidirectional magnet, pulling disparate material into friendly proximity.” Amanda’s writing has appeared in The Rumpus, LitHub, Guernica, The Millions, n+1, Electric Literature, Carve, The American Scholar, The Ploughshares Blog, JSTOR Daily, The Washington Post, Real Simple, Women’s Running and ESPNW.
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