Memoir re-creates the most pivotal experiences of a person’s life.

A week prior to workshop, students will submit the opening pages of a memoir-in progress or a short narrative essay (3-6 pages double spaced) for instructor and peer feedback. Through lively discussion of student manuscripts, short writing exercises, examples of published texts, and mini lectures, students will be introduced to a variety of narrative techniques and approaches used in memoir writing, particularly those related to structure, form, point-of-view, theme; and the relationship between narrative and exposition.

In the last half hour of the class, we will discuss strategies for querying and finding a literary agent. Students will leave the workshop with a better understanding of the strengths and weaknesses in their prose, in addition to learning more about the organizing principle of their memoir, the revision process, and what form best suits their narratives.

Lindsay Wong holds a BFA in creative writing from the University of British Columbia and an MFA in literary nonfiction from Columbia University in New York City. Her fiction and nonfiction have appeared in No Tokens, The Fiddlehead, Ricepaper Magazine, and Apogee Journal. The recipient of many awards and fellowships, she has been writer-in-residence at the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center in Nebraska City. Currently, she is working on a memoir about her crazy Chinese family.



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