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The Stories We Tell Ourselves to Live

FULL/WAIT LIST ONLY—email hannah@mainewriters.org to be added

A 5-Week Memoir & Personal Essay Workshop

Tuesdays, April 6 to May 4

Level: Intermediate/Advanced

In The White Album, Joan Didion wrote, “We tell ourselves stories in order to live.” In this 5-week workshop, participants will dig deeply into the stories they’ve been telling, both on the page and off, to bring their memoir writing to a higher level of precision, clarity, and emotional resonance.

Participants will submit one 5,000-word memoir piece to be workshopped in class, and will give each other the focused, empathetic attention necessary to advance and hone a manuscript. In-class discussion will focus on craft elements such as structure and voice, as well as ethical considerations including writing about other people and handling truth and fact. The class will examine what beginnings and endings should do, and how to craft an on-page persona to walk the reader through the narrative. Place will be approached like another character, with its own traits, quirks, and role to play. Participants will also learn how to both deepen and generate work via experiential and personal archival research.

The class will read a variety of published work to explore the possibilities of the genre, including memoir excerpts from Mary Karr, Elizabeth Alexander, Natasha Trethewey, Nick Flynn, Leah Dieterich, and others. In-class exercises will provide an opportunity to practice craft techniques and to generate the seeds of new work.

This workshop is limited to 10 participants.

+ SUBMIT After registering, participants are asked to submit an essay or memoir excerpt of up to 5000-words by no later than 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday, March 30. Please take this deadline and word limit seriously as late submissions likely cannot be accepted, and excess words will be cut. Please note that these manuscripts will be distributed in advance via email to the other workshop participants. Please email the manuscript to hannah@mainewriters.org with the subject line: “PERRY WORKSHOP MSS.” Please use standard formatting (1” margins, double-spaced, 12 pt font), and submit Word docs (ideally) or Pages files only.

+ PLEASE NOTE This workshop will occur online, using the video meeting platform 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. On Thursday, April 1, from 5:30pm to 6:30pm, MWPA’s Hannah Perry will offer a test session on Zoom. Students are strongly encouraged to participate in the test session, which usually takes only 5-10 minutes, and those who do not are responsible for ensuring that they are able to use Zoom on their own. The week of the workshop, students will be emailed a link that they may click to enter the test session and 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.

PAYMENTS MWPA members may pay for this workshop in one payment, or may pay in two installments of $122.50, due at registration and April 23. *PLEASE NOTE If you have selected to pay for this multi-week workshop on the installment option, once registration for the workshop has closed, you are responsible for paying all of the remaining installments. If you should, for any reason, leave the workshop after registration has closed, you are still responsible for paying all of the remaining installments.

CEU The MWPA is proud to offer Continuing Education Units (CEU) for this workshop. The CEU is a nationally recognized method of quantifying the time spent in the classroom during non-credit learning. Ten hours of instruction equal one (1) CEU. (*Please note that by definition, CEUs are non-credit continuing education and therefore not transferrable as academic credit.)


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Sarah Perry is the author of the memoir After the Eclipse, which was named a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice, a Poets & Writers Notable Nonfiction Debut, and a Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers pick. Perry received the 2018 Betty Berzon Emerging Writer Award and a fellowship from the Edward F. Albee Foundation. She has attended residencies at VCCA, The Studios of Key West, PLAYA, and the Eastern Frontier Educational Foundation on Norton Island, Maine. Her work has appeared in Off Assignment, Elle, The Guardian, and elsewhere. She holds an M.F.A. in nonfiction from Columbia University and has taught at Columbia, Davidson College, Sackett Street Writers’ Workshop, Catapult, and the Unterberg Poetry Center at the 92nd Street Y. A Maine native, she is currently living in Oklahoma as a 2020-2021 Tulsa Artist Fellow, and is based in Brooklyn, NY. VISIT sarahperryauthor.net


ADVANCE REGISTRATION REQUIRED
All MWPA workshops require advanced registration. We accept registration by phone, mail, and online via PayPal. 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 Hannah Perry at hannah@mainewriters.org.

REGISTER BY PHONE
Call 207-228-8263 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. Please note that mail delivery to the MWPA office is currently experiencing extensive delays, so please email hannah@mainewriters.org first if you would like to register by mail.

SCHOLARSHIP
The MWPA is proud to offer one full scholarship to this workshop for members-only. Scholarships are awarded on a combination of need and merit. Application Due on March 22 at 9:00 a.m.
→ MORE INFORMATION

MWPA WORKSHOP POLICIES
Registration in any MWPA workshop, program, or event constitutes your agreement to our terms and conditions. → MORE INFORMATION







Earlier Event: April 3
Essentials of Dramatic Writing
Later Event: April 9
Maine Crime Wave Registration