WAITLIST Only. Email programs@mainewriters.org.
A 5 Week ONLINE Memoir Workshop
Tuesdays, January 16th-February 13th
ALL LEVELS
VS Pritchett said it best:” It’s all in the art --- you don’t get credit for living”. In the writing of memoir, it is the unearthing of the right narratorial voice --- the often elusive persona that represents the author but is also separate from them --- that gives form, shape, and authenticity to the story. It is this persona that allows for memoir to be most authentically written, for issues of permission to be unraveled, and the truth at the core of the story to emerge. The greatest challenge any memoirist faces is to step back and stop manipulating the story, to let go of the reins, and to allow that unique voice to come to the service, and take over the telling. This five-week workshop will provide participants with the guidance they need to learn how to relinquish narrative control to a piece’s authentic voice, to listen to it and what it has to tell them, and to allow their work to evolve from an information dump into something truly compelling.
In this warm and supportive workshop, we will explore the evolution of voice and persona in memoir and essay, narrative curation and hierarchy, how to avoid manipulation of the reader, and how to get to a place where, having found the piece’s voice, one’s narrative comes to life. This will be a deep dive into memoir and an examination of some of memoir’s most central craft issues: sensory details, dialogue,
accuracy, narrative tension, and persona. We will examine essay and memoir both short and long-form, and will include readings from Vivian Gornick, Rebecca Solnit, Ocean Vuong, Mark Doty, Annie Dillard, Mary Karr, and others.
Each participant will submit a 2,000 word memoir excerpt to be workshopped. Each workshop participant will be asked to support every other workshop participant in an environment that is at once critically analytical but also safe and kind.
+ SUBMIT After registering, participants are asked to submit a piece of writing of up to 2000-words by no later than 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday, January 2nd. Please take this deadline seriously as MWPA likely cannot accept late submissions. Please note that these manuscripts will be distributed in advance via email to the other workshop participants. Please email the manuscript to programs@mainewriters.org with the subject line: “ALTMAN WORKSHOP MSS.” Please help MWPA conserve paper by using standard formatting (1” margins, double-spaced, 12 pt Times New Roman) and keeping spacing to a minimum (e.g. no title pages). *Word docs ONLY please.
+ PLEASE NOTE This workshop will occur ONLINE via Zoom. Students do not need to create an account to participate, but should test out Zoom before their class if they are first-time users. The week of the workshop, students will be emailed a link that they may click to enter the class.
+ REQUIRED EQUIPMENT A reliable, fast internet connection (broadband wired or wireless (3G or 4G/LTE), speakers & a microphone (built-in or USB plug-in), and a webcam (built-in or USB plug-in).
If you would like to quickly and easily test your internet connection and your computer’s compatibility with Zoom, click HERE. Full details on supported Operating Systems, internet browsers, and more can be found HERE. To download and familiarize yourself with Zoom, click HERE.
Elissa Altman is the critically-acclaimed, James Beard Award-winning author of three memoirs: Motherland: A Memoir of Life, Loathing, and Longing; My Life as an Unorthodox Outlaw; Poor Man’s Feast: A Love Story of Comfort, Desire, and the Art of Simple Cooking, and her upcoming hybrid craft memoir, On Permission, coming in 2024.. Her work has appeared everywhere from The Guardian and Tin House to O: The Oprah Magazine, Lion’s Roar, Krista Tippett’s On Being, the Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post, where her column, Feeding My Mother, ran for a year. A finalist for the 2020 Lambda Literary Award in Memoir and the 2020 Maine Literary Award in Memoir, she teaches the craft of memoir widely, from Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown to College of William and Mary, Kripalu, The Loft Literary Center, and beyond.
ADVANCE REGISTRATION REQUIRED
All MWPA workshops require advanced registration. We accept registration by phone, mail, and online via our website. We cannot guarantee registration in the final 24-hours before a workshop, and can rarely accommodate day-of registration.
PAYMENT & CANCELLATION POLICIES
If you need to withdraw from a class after registering for any reason, please email or call the MWPA immediately. You may be eligible for a partial refund or credit, depending on how far in advance you cancel. → MORE INFORMATION
QUESTIONS
For any questions regarding this workshop, please contact programs@mainewriters.org.
REGISTER BY PHONE
Call 207-228-8263 and register with your VISA or MasterCard.
$275 Members/$485 Nonmembers
REGISTER BY MAIL
If you prefer to pay by mail, please print this registration form (downloadable PDF) and mail it to the MWPA with a check or credit card information.
SCHOLARSHIP
The MWPA is proud to offer one partial scholarship to this workshop for members-only. Scholarships are awarded on a combination of need and merit. Email programs@mainewriters.org to see if the scholarship is still available. Application Due by December 27 at 9:00 a.m.
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MWPA WORKSHOP POLICIES
Registration in any MWPA workshop, program, or event constitutes your agreement to our terms and conditions. → MORE INFORMATION