Finding Your Memoir Essay through Play

Instructor: Melissa Fraterrigo
Remember those blocks you played with as a child and how one day you could use them to create a castle with a bubbling moat and the next they became lounge chairs for Barbie as she stretched out poolside? Oftentimes when we have a story that demands telling, we need to take the same approach. It is through the process of play and experimentation with form that we discover new information that can transform our personal narratives. In this workshop we’ll look at samples of different types of published essays and then try out exercises that use such approaches to create momentum in our memoir essays. You will leave this class with a better understanding of how to tell your story and how playing with form can reveal these unexpected insights.