The First Person Voice

Dates/Times:
Thursdays, September 16-October 21
6:30-8:30PM

Description:

“A fiction writer has no reason to lie. A memoirist has an illusion to protect.”—John Dufresne

We’ll be spending some time plumbing the depths of that illusion, bringing ourselves round to the conventions of the personal essay and of memoir. What techniques do writers use to tell “true” stories? What are the fundamental tenets of constructing an authentic self on the page?

Over the course of the workshop, we’ll be exploring “Found Objects” and “Replying to Visions” in order to create personal essays and/or memoirs. Expect that your creative spirit will be sparked via plenty of in-class writing exercises and discussion of some classic personal essays.

About the Instructor:

August Tarrier works as an editor and writing consultant, specializing in developing memoirs and novels and scholarly and academic projects. She has led writing workshops with community members, high school students, and Philadelphia secondary-school English teachers. August earned a Ph.D in contemporary literature from Temple University and she has taught creative-writing at Villanova University, at Temple University, at the University of Baltimore, and at the Camden High School for the Creative Arts. She has won several national awards for her short stories, including the Zoetrope Prize, and is currently at work on a novel.