A 4-Week Memoir Workshop
Tuesdays, January 12 - February 2, 6-9 PM
The storage shelves of our minds are filled with memories. Whether tucked away as a momentary snapshot or a full film reel, life’s collected scenes hold the raw material for compelling personal narratives. The challenge for any aspiring memoirist is figuring out how to excavate and sift through those memories, re-enter those scenes, poke around, ask questions, and transform them into something meaningful and accessible on the page.
This 4-week workshop provides a warm, supportive, and structured space designed to help you shape the stories you most want to tell into narratives your readers will find unforgettable. Moving deliberately from a spark of memory to a polished draft, our time will be divided into two distinct halves: two weeks of internal excavation and craft building, followed by two weeks of intensive, collaborative workshopping.
In the first half of the course, we will tackle the blank page together. Through writing exercises and prompts designed to tap into remembered experiences, we’ll begin the process of reconstructing moments from the past and writing directly into the stories they hold. From there, we will pivot to examining the essential craft topics central to memoir and essay. You will learn how to elevate your drafts using sensory details, descriptive language, vivid, cinematic scenes, realistic dialogue, narrative tension, and an authentic voice.
In the final two weeks, the workshop shifts its focus to refinement and community feedback. Each participant will bring in one finished piece (up to 1500 words) that developed directly from our early generative sessions. Together, we will provide constructive, supportive feedback on these drafts, ensuring you leave the course with a clear path toward a polished, resonant narrative.
Note: The first and last classes will occur in-person at Mechanics’ Hall in Portland. The middle two classes will be Online.
$240 Members/$350 Nonmembers
Melanie Brooks is the author of the books A Hard Silence: One Daughter Remaps Family, Grief, and Faith When HIV/AIDS Changes It All (Vine Leaves Press, 2023) and Writing Hard Stories: Celebrated Memoirists Who Shaped Art From Trauma (Beacon Press, 2017). She teaches creative nonfiction in the M.F.A. programs at Bay Path University and Western Connecticut State University and professional writing at Northeastern University. She holds an M.F.A. in Creative Nonfiction from the University of Southern Maine’s Stonecoast writing program and a Certificate in Narrative Medicine from Columbia University. She has had numerous interviews and essays on topics ranging from loss and grief to parenting and aging published in The Boston Globe, HuffPost, The Globe and Mail, Yankee, The Washington Post, Psychology Today, Ms. Magazine, Creative Nonfiction, and other notable publications. She lives in New Hampshire with her husband, two children (when they are home from adult lives away), and two Labs.
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
Registration in any MWPA workshop, program, or event constitutes your agreement to our terms and conditions. → MORE INFORMATION