Memoir Course this summer

This summer, I’m teaching a graduate memoir writing class at the Citadel as part of the Lowcountry Writing Project. The Writing Project is all about professional development, believing that as teachers become better writers, they become better teachers of writing. Teachers from any discipline and any grade level are welcome. People from the community who want to write about their lives are welcome, too.

The cool thing is that because the National Writing Project is funded by a federal grant, they pay part of the tuition AND they buy the books for you. Thus, it costs only $300 for 3 hours of graduate credit in either the English or Education departments (your choice).

Wait, there is one other cool thing. The class goes on the road by spending Wednesdays at the Citadel Beach House on the Isle of Palms, and by doing a writing marathon through the historic district of Charleston. If you are a Facebook friend of mine, you can see the pictures from last year’s course – and you can see that we had fun!

The Citadel can put you up on campus, too, if you want to come from out of town. Come on. You always wondered what it would be like to live among cadets...

Here is the official course announcement:

2009 Summer Open Institute

Lowcountry Writing Project, the Citadel
Creative Nonfiction: Crafting Memoir
June 15-26, 8:30-12:45 3 hours graduate credit

Memoir. Personal narrative. Narrative Nonfiction. Personal essay. Short memoir. We can call what we will be writing in this class by any of these names, but they all share one central element – a first person narrator who reflects on what Barrie Jean Borich calls “the actual” in his or her world. She writes:

“We begin a work of creative nonfiction not with the imaginary but with the actually, with what actually is or actually was, or what actually happened. From this point we might move in any direction, but the actual is our touchstone.”

Short memoir tries to tell what actually is or was; however, it is not journalism. Short memoir differs from journalism in that it uses elements of fiction and poetry – characterization, setting, symbolism, figurative language and more – to tell a story. We will help you improve your short memoir pieces and encourage you to find readers and identify markets for your work. Taught by Dr. Amy Hudock. For more information . . .