“Writing from the Heart for Publication: The Memoir” Course Description

The memoir is one of the publishing industry´s hottest items today. The best memoirs — those written from the heart — transcend the mere recounting of personal events to illustrate larger truths about human nature and the vicissitudes of life. Some memoirs are humorous, others shocking and still others poignant, but inevitably the finest of them leave readers with powerful impressions. For that reason, contemporary editors often welcome well-written memoirs from ordinary people, as well as those from celebrities and politicians.

Memoir Writing, a project co-sponsored by the Women Writing Women´s Lives Seminar of the CUNY Graduate Center and CUNY´s Continuing Education and Public Programs Division, is uniquely designed to help students master the elements of this dramatic literary genre. Taught by a member of the Women Writing Women´s Lives Seminar (Nancy Rubin Stuart) and supplemented with lectures from other seasoned Seminar author/memoirists (Alix Kates Schulman, Carol Ascher, Nancy Kline, Lise Vogel and Johanna Garfield), the course introduces students to the principles and techniques of memoir writing. Among these are the use of the narrative voice, objectivity/subjectivity issues, the selectivity of details, time parameters, and the integration of themes. The course includes class exercises, weekly writing assignments and teacher-led peer critiques of student work.

Class will meet for six two-hour sessions at the CUNY Graduate Center on Thursday nights from 6:15-8:15, from 27 September to 25 October 2007.