A 5-Week Online Memoir Workshop
Saturdays: April 5 - May 3, 12-3 PM
What is most precious because it is lost, what is lost because it is most precious. – Amiri Baraka
We write memoir because we are carrying an intense experience or memory that won’t allow itself to be left in the past, remain buried in the unconscious, or be turned into fiction. In this workshop, you will gain tips and strategies for how to excavate these precious memories and transform them into prose. In each of our five class meetings, we will study key elements of memoir craft in a way that is beneficial to both beginner and advanced writers, deepening what we already know, or what we think we know, about voice, character, time, narrative structure, and more. There will also be space to explore common emotional roadblocks faced by memoirists, such as self-doubt, public exposure, responses from loved ones, and gaps in memories in the face of cultural, political, or familial erasures.
Meetings will include brief in-class readings, craft discussions, generative exercises, and weekly workshops where students share 2000-word excerpts of their works-in-progress and receive feedback. We will approach workshopping and craft not as a set of rules and practices used to discipline our writing but rather as reparative openings to feeling how our stories want to be told after being suppressed for so long.
$275 Members/$475 Nonmembers
$150 for Members & Nonmembers
Leila Christine Nadir Leila Christine Nadir is an award-winning nonfiction writer and community-engaged artist. As a educator, editor, and writing coach, she works with writers seeking to develop their voices and learn research and craft strategies to unearth personal and cultural stories that will resonate off the page across culture. A 2023 MWPA Ashley Bryan Fellow and 2024 Maine Lit Fest Fellow, she is the recipient of additional awards and fellowships from MacDowell, Periplus, de Groot Foundation, Hedgebrook, Bread Loaf, Tin House, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, and more. Her essays have appeared in Michigan Quarterly Review, Khôra, Black Warrior Review, North American Review, ASAP, and Aster(ix), among other places. Leila is represented by Ayesha Pande of Ayesha Pande Literary and lives with her partner and dog in Maine. Connect with her online at www.leilanadir.com, Instagram @leila.c.nadir, or Substack @leilanadir.
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 207-200-7180 and register with your VISA or MasterCard.
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. Application Due by April 1 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