A 1-Day Creative Nonfiction Workshop
Monday, December 14, 6-9 PM
“I WALKED. My mother had given me the freedom of the streets as soon as I could say our telephone number. I walked and memorized the neighborhood. I made a mental map and located myself upon it.” — Annie Dillard, An American Childhood
What is the memoir but just as Dillard describes: a locating of the self within a larger map? Throughout history, many have considered the memoir a narrow form, one focused exclusively on the “I.” This assumption could not be farther from the truth. After all, it’s well-established that the personal is political and the “I” never exists in a vacuum but, rather, in the context of countless people, places, and experiences that have shaped it. In some memoirs, this context is implied. In others, it’s made explicit through research and reporting that locates the self in a broader story.
In this class, we will focus on the latter type of memoir — that which merges personal narrative with research and journalism.
We will ask the following questions: How to know if, and when, to pull research and reporting into a memoir or personal essay? When might reporting help the writing and when might it hurt? How to include research and reporting while maintaining your voice? We will consult short excerpts by writers that may include Annie Dillard, Joan Didion, Arundhati Roy, and Susannah Cahalan.
This class is for memoirists, aspiring memoirists, or anyone curious about how to merge personal narrative with research and reporting!
$60 Members/$85 Nonmembers
Emma Zimmerman is an award-winning writer and journalist, based in Maine. Her essays have appeared in publications that include Huffpost, No Tokens, and PRISM, and her journalism has appeared in Outside, Runner’s World, The Boston Globe, and the Maine Monitor. Her literary nonfiction has received various awards, including a “notable nonfiction” selection in the Best American Essays anthology, and fellowships from Lighthouse Writers Workshop and Phillips Exeter Academy. Emma has a BA from Grinnell College and an MFA in creative nonfiction writing from NYU. She teaches at Central Maine Community College and the Electric Cottage Collective (in Brunswick). Her debut book, Body Songs: A Memoir of Long Covid, Chronic Illness, and Unconventional Recovery, is forthcoming from Penguin in January 2027.
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 two weeks prior to the workshop start date, at 9:00 a.m.
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MWPA WORKSHOP POLICIES
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