Writing Workshop: The Art of the Personal Essay

Instructor:  Sarah Ginter
Date: 5 Thursdays: October 26; November 2, 9, 16, 30
Time: 6:30 – 9:00 p.m.
Location: IWC
Cost: $338 Nonmembers, $225 members, $200 student members/teacher members/senior members/military members/librarian members
* The price of this class includes an additional $25 manuscript fee

In this 6-week writing workshop, we will study some of the masters of the personal essay and creative nonfiction in order to understand how we can take our own hectic, mesmerizing, beautiful, and frantic experiences of life and create an artful narrative.

You will have the opportunity to be “workshopped” twice in this class. You can bring in something that you have been working on whether it be a personal essay or a chapter from a memoir, or you can start on something new.

In the workshop setting, your work is critiqued by the instructor and students through live discussion. This is a great opportunity to get your work read by others. You will send your work to me about a week in advance in order to give the class the chance to read and take notes on your writing. Then during the next class we will discuss the two to three student pieces for the week. I will also assign readings of contemporary personal essays in advance so that we can all discuss the craft and art of the piece.

You will receive a written critique from the instructor on your writing, detailing things that are working well and suggestions for improvement. It is a valuable writing exercise to be able to read other’s writing and critique in a group setting. I will need two volunteers to send their work beforehand a week in advance to the first week of class.

Here is what other students have said about this workshop:

“Sarah is an excellent leader of the group discussion & the feedback really helped enhance my editing process. 

“It was inspirational. Great motivator to continue writing.”