This writing workshop will expand and deepen your understanding of creative nonfiction—a genre that ranges from narrative journalism to the lyric essay. Most commonly, it is a form that enables writers to apply the craft of fiction to true stories. We will read a range of styles and experiment with subject and form. We will learn from literary mentors, including Lidia Yuknavitch, Mitchell S. Jackson, T Kira Madden, and others. We will determine how to accurately render people, places, and experiences, and how to create honest, engaging work. We will ask hard questions: How do we decide what information merits inclusion? How much can we trust our reader to “get” our intentions? What’s the best structure to house the story we want to tell? The workshop-style seminar will depend on active participation, in-class and take-home writing assignments, thorough critiques of one another’s work, and commitment to the process of revision.
- Teacher: Courtney Zoffness