Register for this workshop here!
In the span of every life are countless moments, stories, and revelations. When writing a personal narrative, how do writers select what will most speak their truth and resonate with readers?
In this 4-week course, we’ll focus on demystifying the personal narrative process by figuring out what’s a snapshot and what’s a story. Writing is hard, and writing about yourself is sometimes even harder. Most times, we assume we must state our entire lives in one ... view more »
Register for this workshop here!
In the span of every life are countless moments, stories, and revelations. When writing a personal narrative, how do writers select what will most speak their truth and resonate with readers?
In this 4-week course, we’ll focus on demystifying the personal narrative process by figuring out what’s a snapshot and what’s a story. Writing is hard, and writing about yourself is sometimes even harder. Most times, we assume we must state our entire lives in one piece, so even the thought of putting pen to page becomes intimidating. This workshop will explore how we pinpoint storylines within ourselves by simply leaning into who we naturally are, how we naturally sound, and what we naturally gravitate to as writers. Through games, prompts, and other exercises, we’ll focus on generating work every week, searching for our many truths, and coming out on the other side with sentences that start with words like “I” and “My.” This course is open to adult writers of all skill levels.
Workshop participants will leave with the following:
– A starting point for a personal essay
– An understanding of how to differentiate between a situation and a story
– Techniques for nurturing their voice on the page
– Ideas on how to create prompts for themselves to generate material
WORKSHOP DATES:
Thursdays, July 6, 13, 20, 27 & Aug 3, 10, 6:30-8:30pm CDT, Hybrid: Via Zoom or in person.
COST:
Nonmember: $150; Member: $130; Student/Vet/Mil: $75
EARN CPE’S * SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE!
An award-winning essayist and poet, Kendra Allen was born and raised in Dallas, TX. She loves laughing, leaving, and writing Make Love in My Car, a music column for Southwest Review. Some of her other work can be found in The Paris Review, High Times, The Rumpus, and more. She’s the author of the New York Times lauded poetry collection The Collection Plate (Harper Collins 2022) and essay collection When You Learn the Alphabet, which won the 2018 Iowa Prize for Literary Nonfiction. Fruit Punch (Ecco 2022), her memoir, is out now and receiving praise from all corners. Jaquira Díaz, author of Ordinary Girls, calls it “A stunning and original memoir about Black girlhood and coming of age.”
View less
