Straw into Gold: The Alchemy of Memoir

Do you have a story you are longing to tell? This is your chance to take a great leap forward with the help of a writer whose literary nonfiction has appeared in the New Yorker and The New York Times. In this five-day creative sanctuary, you’ll begin writing in a spirit of spontaneous play, letting your pen glide rapidly over the paper in short bursts. Be prepared to be surprised by what turns up, and to draw deeply from wells unfamiliar to you. Later, you’ll spin straw into gold, refining first drafts into polished scenes that can electrify other readers, even strangers. The workshop will pay careful attention to questions of craft, voice, and narrative structure. This is a perfectionism-free zone. Nothing is off-limits.

Although this workshop is not therapy, writing your truth and unleashing your creativity can be joyful and, almost by accident, therapeutic. You may tame your inner critic and take home tools that deepen the resonance and immediacy of everything you write from now on. Be prepared to give birth to a story that represents a personal writing breakthrough. This workshop is suitable for both beginning and experienced writers. Please bring 250 pages of lined paper, a favorite passage of published memoir, and plenty of smooth-flowing pens.
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