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Tell it Slant: Writing the Truth in Nonfiction

This workshop is full. To be added to the waitlist, email Meghan at programs@mainewriters.org.

A 5 Week Nonfiction Workshop

Wednesdays, September 7th through October 5th

Level: All Levels

“Tell all the truth but tell it slant—" Emily Dickinson reminds us of both the necessity and risk in truth-telling. Writers telling true stories decide how to tell the truth and how to tell the readers that they’re telling the truth… or at least are trying to tell the truth. This workshop explores various approaches to position the writer in relation to the truth, demonstrating nuanced navigation and direct address. In this five-week series, we will read a range of texts that try out different approaches to the truth. We will generate work together, and workshop submitted drafts to consider ways to tell the truth. We will try out flash pieces using different approaches, and will have space to expand our writing toward the truth together. Readings include Jo Ann Beard’s “Maybe it Happened”, and excerpts from Carmen Maria Machado’s In the Dream House, Kiese Laymon’s Heavy and more.

+ 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. On Thursday September 1st from 5:30pm to 6:00pm, MWPA staff will offer a tech help session on Zoom. Students are encouraged to attend the tech help session, which usually takes only 5-10 minutes, if they have any tech concerns, use Zoom infrequently, or simply would like to test their connection, 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.


Meredith McCarroll is Director of Writing and Rhetoric at Bowdoin College. Her work has appeared in Bitter Southerner, Avidly, Southern Cultures, Still, Cutleaf and elsewhere. McCarroll is the author of Unwhite: Appalachia, Race, and Film (University of Georgia Press). Along with Anthony Harkins, McCarroll edited Appalachian Reckoning: A Region Responds to Hillbilly Elegy (West Virginia University Press) which won the Weatherford Award and the American Book Award. McCarroll is currently at work on a book project that explores lineage and inheritance, reckons with claims to place and culture, and explores what we literally pass down through blood but also what we inherit through proximity. A native North Carolinian, she lives in Portland, Maine.


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 Meghan Sterling at programs@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.



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. Email Meghan at programs@mainewriters.org to see if the scholarship is still available. Application Due by August 24th 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: August 27
Ignite Narrative Drive
Later Event: September 9
A Screening of Loving Highsmith