Courses

In this course, we will practice the art and craft of writing memoir: works of prose inspired by the memory of personal experiences and history. Since Augustine published his Confessions nearly 1,600 years ago, the memoir as a literary genre has undertaken a dizzying array of forms, styles, content, and reader expectations. From spiritual salvation to secular redemption, egalitarian bonhomie to Freudian taboo, memoirists have negotiated new expectations about how best to project their reality onto the page. We will make a fresh twist in our study of memoir by imitating many diverse historical models of the genre. We will read works of memoir by Augustine, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Vera Brittain, Patricia Hampl, Mary McCarthy, Theodore Roosevelt, Tim O’Brien, Joan Didion, Eavan Boland, Tobias Wolff, Kate Braestrup, Justin St. Germain, Annie Dillard, and Cynthia Ozick. All students will have the opportunity to present for workshop two shorter writing sketches, and also one longer draft of a memoir chapter or essay. About half of our class time will be devoted to the discussion of student work. The course will address issues ranging from how we select and write about events from our personal lives, to the ethical obligations of memoirists. Writers at all levels of experience and comfort with creative writing are welcome. Energetic and committed participation is a must.