Instructor: Lindsey Crittenden
Writing memoir draws upon all of us. We are the writer, the narrator, and the character living the events recounted. But which events, and how recounted? And how do we organize it all? Our stories rarely leap fully-formed to the page, however well we think we remember all the pieces.
This class will provide concrete help through exploration and practice of such craft elements as narrative distance, scene and summary, and the handling of time. We'll explore the challenges of writing about real people and our own lived experience, of placing our narrative in a wider context, and of examining our own motivations, perceptions, and insights.
If you're committed to finding your story, and telling it as only you can tell it, please join us for eight weeks of discovery. There will be regular reading assignments and written homework, as well as in-class exercises and sharing of work in a supportive atmosphere. Students will finish the course with a portfolio of work designed to provide both structure and content for moving toward a complete memoir.
Required class reading: Writing the Memoir by Judith Barrington
Lindsey Crittenden's memoir writing has appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, Best American Spiritual Writing, Cimarron Review, Image, and many other publications. She is the author of The Water Will Hold You (which Publishers Weekly called "gorgeously written"), and has taught memoir-writing for more than 20 years.