Memoir Writing

Description

“’Do you solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?’ was not an oath invented by or for a writer of memoir. It’s not possible,” says instructor Ruth Schwartz. “The very nature of crafting memoir requires us to focus on certain truths and exclude others, and to shade, sculpt and whittle the truths we tell. But how do we choose which aspects of truth matter most? And how can we summon both the craft and the courage required for us to be able to tell them?

“Jane Hirshfield says, ‘Truth and beauty live most happily amid complexity and paradox.’ In other words, if we want to tell any kind of truth at all, we have to be able to encompass paradox, or states of internal contradiction. As human beings, all of us at least occasionally long for simplicity – good guys and bad guys, happy endings — or even sad endings. But at least endings. Clarity. Yet life rarely dishes up such simplicity, at least not if we’re looking closely enough. And I submit that the complex circumstances that most confound us as human beings are the best possible material for us as writers of memoir. The myriad shades of gray we may struggle with in our personal lives are the stuff of which literature is made.”

In this workshop Ruth will introduce you to excerpts of memoirs that encompass such complexity, and she will also give you some writing exercises to help you break through whatever may be holding you back from your own deepest material. You’ll also explore various craft issues, such as where to most effectively begin or end a scene or a piece, and how to work with the rhythm and syntax of your language to make your work more impactful. By the end of the day, you’ll have a good start on a personal essay or a piece of memoir that you might never have written otherwise.

Ruth L. Schwartz is the author of four award-winning books of poems, including Edgewater, a 2001 National Poetry Series winner selected by Jane Hirshfield. Her memoir, Death in Reverse, documents the year following her donation of a kidney to her former partner. Her poems and essays have appeared frequently in The Sun (sometimes under a pseudonym, at the editors’ request), and she has received numerous literary fellowships, honors and prizes. Ruth is currently a Distinguished Visiting Writer in the low-residency M.F.A. program at Ashland University and also teaches privately. In addition, she is a practicing hypnotherapist and shaman who honors and wrestles with pain, beauty and truth in all their disguises.

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http://www.writingsalons.com

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415.609.2468

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