The Art of the Personal Essay

The Art of the Personal Essay is a 6-week-long workshop with award-winning memoirist, essayist, and children’s book writer Nadja Spiegelman. The class will take place on Zoom on Tuesdays from May 7 until June 11 from 6-8 p.m. PST. Each participant will be able to submit one (1) piece of writing for workshop and receive written feedback from the instructor.

What are the stories you alone need to tell? In this class, we will move from the mechanics of the craft (how to portray compelling characters, develop an effective narrative structure, and edit oneself) to the more profound questions of artistic responsibility, such as which stories we own, and why, and what it means to write about the people we love. In addition to reading and critiquing each other’s work, each week will feature short exercises designed to liberate creative thinking and push into new territory. You do not need to have a story already in mind to take this course; we will work on finding your stories together. This class is intended to be a freeing and supportive space, where each of us can explore the questions we have about our lives, rather than the answers, and learn to give shape to our experiences through our words.

Nadja Spiegelman is the author of the memoir I’m Supposed to Protect You from All This, as well as four children’s books, including the award-winning Lost in NYC. She was the editor-in-chief of Astra Magazine, and is a contributing editor at The Paris Review. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times Book Review, The New York Review of Books, The New Yorker, The Cut, and more.

This workshop is $480. Registration closes on April 28 at 11:59 p.m. PST. For more information, please contact Lindsay Wright at [email protected].