In this all-levels workshop with award-winning writer and editor Melisse Gelula, we'll explore using personal source materials—an old letter, a family photo, medical records, a voicemail, etc.,—as a tool of discovery to help deepen and structure your writing. Together we’ll look at examples of how source material functions in the gorgeous memoirs of Natasha Trethewey and Suzanne Scanlon. Then we'll identify our own objects of personal resonance, and tap into sense memories to draft short scenes around them. Attendees will receive ideas and motivation for continuing their draft at home. If time allows, some attendees may have the opportunity to share their new work.
Please bring a pen and notebook. You do not need to bring any objects to class—we will be working from memory.
Ages 18 and up. No formal writing experience necessary
Date
Jun 22, 9:45am to 11:00am
Featuring
Melisse Gelula
Melisse is the co-founder of Well+Good, an award-winning media company, and the founder of Memoiring, a book club and writing community that hosts memoirists such as Melissa Febos and Margo Steines for discussions and workshops. She has an MFA in Creative Nonfiction from Sarah Lawrence College and is currently writing a memoir about being raised by a child psychologist who starts to hear voices. Melisse’s work and expertise has been featured in dozens of outlets, including the New York Times, Vogue, and Electric Literature. She lives in Narrowsburg, NY. You can follow her on Instagram @MelisseJoy and @Memoir_ing
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