Memory Into Story: Writing the Self Through Memoir

How does memory become story? In this generative workshop, we will explore how writers transform personal memory into compelling memoir. The class focuses on how lived experience is shaped on the page—how memory shifts when written, and how moments, images, and fragments become narrative that carries emotional and structural truth.

Through close readings of contemporary memoir and creative nonfiction, we will examine how writers craft voice, build scenes, and structure experience. We will look at how memoirists move between reflection and action, how they shape the self as a character, and how they use compression, fragmentation, and detail to create meaning.

Participants will be introduced to key craft strategies in memoir, including scene-building, reflection, narrative distance, and fragment-based storytelling. The session includes discussion, short writing exercises, and generative prompts designed to help writers begin or deepen their own memoir work.

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