ONLINE Finding Your Memoir
6 weeks | Wednesdays | Begins May 13, 2026
12pm-2:30pm PT | 1pm-3:30pm MT | 2pm-4:30pm CT | 3pm-5:30pm ET |
4pm-6:30pm AT
Instructor: Judah Leblang
AWCS Members: $300
Non-Members: $380
"Finding Your Memoir" is a hands-on course for writers interested in developing a book-length memoir or essay collection. In this six-week seminar, we will explore many of the key features of the memoir genre including: finding your theme or through-line, dealing with internal and external conflict, finding your structure, and balancing scene vs. narrative--showing vs. telling. In class, we'll look at short excerpts that illustrate craft elements of developing memoir and complete writing exercises that build on these topics. By the end of the course, you should have a clearer sense of your theme, tools to assist you in developing your book's structure, and practical techniques to help you move forward with your memoir.
This is an interactive online class using the Zoom web platform.
Judah Leblang is a Boston-based writer, teacher, and storyteller. He is the author of the essay collection, Finding My Place (Lake Effect Press, 2012) and the memoir Echoes of Jerry (Red Giant Books, 2019). He has performed his one-man show, "It's Now or Never" at Calgary Fringe--(Best of Festival 2019) and in Edmonton, Winnipeg, Chicago, and Boston. His radio pieces have been broadcast on 200 NPR and ABC-radio network stations in the US and on several Canadian stations. He teaches memoir-writing at GrubStreet in Boston, at Literary Cleveland, and at the Alexandra Writers' Centre in Calgary.
