Come write with me!
Hello out there! Maybe you know that I teach memoir-writing classes and workshops, but if this is the first you’ve heard of it… well, I do! I began teaching sporadically in 2010 and found that I loved it, and over the years, I’ve made teaching a larger and larger portion of what I do. These days, I teach an online class every Monday night, Tuesday night, and Thursday morning1, plus 1-2 online workshops and 2-3 in-person workshops each year. It sounds like a lot when I type it out, but it doesn’t feel that way. I absolutely love to teach writing, to build community around reading and writing, and to help students use language to explore the knottiest and richest parts of themselves.
Some of my students are published writers or actively working toward publication, but most come in on a whim, knowing that they want to write, but aren’t sure they know how, or where to begin, or how to keep going. All are welcome. If you have questions about my workshops, you’re welcome to reply to this email.
Last workshop of 2022!
I’ve got ONE more online workshop this year, and it starts next Tuesday, and there are a couple of openings left. It’s called “From Memory to Story,” and it’s on Zoom, Tuesdays and Fridays, November 1 to 18, from 9:00-11:00am Pacific. I’ll share an approach I’ve used in all my work to help me tap into memories, rebuild scenes from the past, and write vividly from within them. You will leave with pages and pages of work that you wouldn’t otherwise have made, and with a new community of like-minded writers. Here’s what one online workshop participant had to say afterward:
You are such a generous and talented teacher! We developed a real camaraderie and sense of sustained conversation, in spite of the fact that we weren’t able to meet in person. I attribute this to your skillful facilitation of Zoom, your inclusive approach, and your ability to make sharing work seem easy and safe, even with very rough first drafts. — H.M.
It’ll be the last time I teach this curriculum until late spring of 2023. Join me! Join us!
In-person workshops in 2023
My teaching schedule for next year is starting to take shape, with two multi-day workshops in the Southwest of the US, a place I love. When I taught there this year, I took one of those cheap-o disposable cameras, and I just got the film back last week, and this could be yours, look:
Here’s where you can find me:
April 24-28, 2023: Santa Fe, New Mexico
This workshop is called “Food as a Doorway to Memory,” and in it, we’ll explore how the sensory details of food can help us unlock our most fertile memories. This curriculum is some of my favorite to teach, because it’s where my own writing career began. Plus, we will be in Santa Fe. This workshop is hosted by MISA West, a multidisciplinary arts school, and they’ll be running two quilting workshops concurrent with ours, which means there should be terrific opportunities for cross-pollination. (When I taught at MISA’s Wisconsin campus this past June, I was wildly inspired by the quilters.) For more information, and to register:
Then, two months later and three hours up the road:
June 25-30, 2023: Zapata Ranch in Mosca, Colorado
I'm still pinching myself at the thought of returning to Zapata Ranch2, where I spent a week with a small group of students this past August, writing and riding horses and eating a gorgeous family-style meal every night. Like the Santa Fe workshop in April, the curriculum for this one is “Food as a Doorway to Memory,” but it is completely transformed by the high-desert surroundings and food of the Zapata.
We ride every other day, long meandering rides through the Ranch's textured scrublands and the surreal landscapes of Great Sand Dunes National Park. We spend the rest of our hours together writing, reading, and eating well. Participants need not have riding experience; the all-female team of wranglers are terrific coaches, guides, and teachers, and the horses are actual saints. You will never ever forget it. To learn more, and to register:
I recognize that participation in these workshops has a cost. And if that cost is a barrier for you, know that I am organizing a free offering for the coming months — a write-along with me, on Zoom, for anyone who’d like to spend a weekend morning writing in good company. Stay tuned! And always, thank you.
These three classes are ongoing and are currently full.
The Ranch is located about 2.5 hours from the Colorado Springs airport, 4 hours from the Denver airport, and 4 hours from the Albuquerque airport. I flew into and out of ABQ, and I loved the drive — easy, expansive, beautiful.