“If there’s a book you really want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.” Toni Morrison

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“What would you write if you weren’t afraid?” Mary Karr

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While an autobiography tends to tell the story of one’s whole life, a memoir hones in on one moment, time or place. It is specific, and in that specificity there is a lot of room: a single day, a single hour, that afternoon you turned eleven and everything changed, that rainy season you spent heartbroken in Mexico City, etc. (You definitely don’t need to know yet what you will write about.) 

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What actually goes into writing a compelling memoir? 

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In this class we will answer that question together through reading excellent excerpts from memoirists such as Pam Houston, Kiese Laymon, Toni Jensen, Greg Marshall and others as well as through exercises to begin to determine what parts of our lives we will write about and how. 

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We will take the raw stuff of our lives and build a container to hold it. You will be asked to share one page of your writing each week, and give feedback to others, using the Amherst Method for Poets and Writers (which is an excellent resource we will go over in class.) Sharing work is encouraged, but optional. There will be some reading/writing homework each week, and you will receive personalized weekly feedback from the instructor as well. This class is designed for beginner or intermediate writers.

*Please note that with the ONLINE SELF-PACED course, the instructor will be the only one giving you feedback, and you won't be expected to read any other student work.​​