A 5 Week Hybrid Memoir & Nonfiction Workshop
Wednesdays, January 10th-February 7th
ALL LEVELS
As many of us write our own stories, we find that we must also write the stories of the families that shaped us. It is there that many writers confront new anxieties: Is it my story to tell? What if I don’t know the whole story? How can I make sure that my family’s story connects to a reader who is not in my family? This workshop uses varied models of writing about family in order to move beyond and through individual histories toward meaningful writing. Readings may include Amy Tan, Rick Bragg, Phuc Tran, Mary Karr and Kiese Laymon—which we will discuss each week with a focus on form. The workshop will include generative assignments to encourage new ways of thinking about writing family. Each writer should bring a piece of writing about family—which need not be polished or complete—to workshop with the class. Together we will consider various strategies to write family with attention to audience, form, tone, and theme over five weeks.
+ PLEASE NOTE This workshop will occur both ONLINE via Zoom and IN-Person. Students do not need to create an account to participate, but should test out Zoom before their class if they are first-time users. The week of the workshop, students will be emailed a link that they may click to enter the class and the location if they are attending in-person.
+ 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 a writer and writing teacher living in Portland . Her work has appeared in Salon, Bitter Southerner, Avidly, Southern Cultures, Still, Cutleaf, Cleaver 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.
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 207-228-8263 and register with your VISA or MasterCard.
$275 Members/$485 Nonmembers
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. Email programs@mainewriters.org to see if the scholarship is still available. Application Due by December 27 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