ONLINE Intermediate Memoir
Tuesdays
8 weeks
April 4 - May 23
1:00-3:30pm MT
Instructor: Judah Leblang
MEMBER PRICE: $315.00 (with member coupon AWCSM25)
NON-MEMBER PRICE: $420.00
This class is designed for writers who have written at least half of a first draft of their memoir or essay collection. In the course, we will tackle big-picture issues and ultimately help you find your book structure and refine your story.
Rather than a traditional workshop-focused class, this class allows students to take turns sharing brief six-page excerpts, which we will workshop in class "on the fly." (I will ask you to read these excerpts a day or two before we discuss them in class.) We'll discuss each writer's work, and then you'll send brief written comments to each writer after class.
In the remaining time, you will participate in some in-class exercises, and we'll discuss craft issues such as writing scenes vs. exposition, the place for reflection and supposition in memoir, developing character, "truth" and memory as it relates to recovering and recreating the past, developing characters, and finding your persona on the page. We will also examine some exemplary memoirs and personal essays, including work by such authors as: Edwidge Danticat, Carlos Eire, Sherman Alexie, George Hodgman, Maya Angelou, and others.
Your primary work outside of class is continuing to write, with the goal of writing 5 new pages or revising 10 pages each week and developing a solid outline of your memoir in progress.
Please come to the first class with a copy of "an elevator pitch" for your memoir (a compelling title and 150-word blurb that summarizes and encapsulates your work) or the first page of your memoir/essay collection.
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.