The Next Step: A Memoir Workshop
This workshop was offered in 2021. Sign up for our email list to receive updates for the 2022 conference.
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Online Writing Workshop
January 14-18, 2021
Led by Paul Lisicky
You’ve already given shape to the key moments in your autobiographical narrative, but now what? In this generative workshop, we’ll develop three of the major facets of any memoir: the opening, the ending, and that elusive in-between point where the work shakes off its skin and becomes a new animal. We’ll use published excerpts as prompts to reimagine what might feel stagnant or forced in your narrative. We’ll also discuss the publishing process, but our main focus will be on writing, revising and sharing fresh material. Bring an excerpt (up to 10 double-spaced pages or 2,600 words) that attempts to embody the voice, the atmosphere and what’s at stake for the speaker. You’ll leave this workshop with a new perspective on your own story and the tools you need to see your memoir project through to completion.
*Limited to just 10 participants.*
“Rejuvenating, inspiring and welcoming. This Getaway brings you back to yourself and allows you to refine your focus and expand beyond your comfort zone to fine tune your skills.”
~ Mary Ellen, Old Bridge, NJ
Biography
Paul Lisicky is the author of six books including Later: My Life at the Edge of the World, The Narrow Door, Unbuilt Projects, The Burning House, Famous Builder, and Lawnboy. His work has appeared in The Atlantic, BuzzFeed, Conjunctions, The Cut, Fence, The New York Times, Ploughshares, Tin House and in many other magazines and anthologies. He has received awards from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the James Michener/Copernicus Society and the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, where he has served on the Writing Committee since 2000. He has taught in the creative writing programs at Cornell University, New York University, Sarah Lawrence College, The University of Texas at Austin and elsewhere. He is currently an Associate Professor in the MFA Program at Rutgers University-Camden and lives in Brooklyn, New York. He is at work on a memoir Animal Care and Control. Visit his website: paullisicky.net.
