FULL/WAIT LIST ONLY
A 10-Week Memoir & Personal Essay Workshop
Tuesdays, September 15 - November 17, 2020
Level: Advanced
V.S. Pritchett said it best: “It's all in the art—you don't get credit for living.” In memoir writing, the act of unearthing the narrator’s voice, or persona, gives form, shape, and authenticity to the story. It is this persona that creates authenticity, identifies issues of permission to be unraveled, and helps locate the truth at the core of the story.
The greatest challenge any memoirist faces is to stop manipulating their story, and to allow that unique voice to take over the telling. This 10-week workshop will provide participants with the guidance they need to learn how to relinquish narrative control to the voice of a piece, to listen to what it has to tell them, and to allow their work to evolve from a recollection of experience into a truly compelling narrative.
In this warm and supportive workshop, we will explore the evolution of voice in memoir and essay, how to avoid manipulating the reader, and how to bring a narrative to life. This will be a deep dive into memoir and an examination of some of its most central craft issues: sensory details, dialogue, accuracy, narrative tension, and persona. We will discuss readings from Alexander Chee, Annie Dillard, Mark Doty, Vivian Gornick, Joy Harjo, Sarah Manguso, Jesmyn Ward, and others.
This workshop is intended for intermediate and advanced memoir and personal essay writers.
+ SUBMIT After registering, participants are asked to submit a piece of writing of up to 5000-words by no later than 9:00 a.m. on September 8. Please take this deadline seriously as MWPA likely cannot accept late submissions. 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: “ALTMAN WORKSHOP MSS.” Please use standard formatting (1” margins, double-spaced, 12 pt font) and keep spacing to a minimum (e.g. no title pages). *Word docs ONLY, please.
+ 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, September 10, 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 before the workshop begins, 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.
DATES The workshop will meet every Tuesday between September 15 and November 17, unless unforeseen scheduling issues should arise.
PAYMENTS MWPA members may pay for this workshop in one payment, or may pay in three installments of $151.70, due at registration and the 1st of each month (October, November). *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.)
Elissa Altman is the critically-acclaimed, James Beard Award-winning author of three memoirs: Motherland: A Memoir of Life, Loathing, and Longing; Treyf: My Life as an Unorthodox Outlaw; and Poor Man’s Feast: A Love Story of Comfort, Desire, and the Art of Simple Cooking. Her work has appeared everywhere from The Guardian and Tin House to O: The Oprah Magazine, Lion’s Roar, Krista Tippett’s On Being, the Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post, where her column, Feeding My Mother, ran for a year. A finalist for the 2020 Lambda Literary Award in Memoir and the 2020 Maine Literary Award in Memoir, she teaches the craft of memoir widely, from Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown to The Loft Literary Center, and beyond.
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 September 4 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