Creative Nonfiction Workshop
Sonja Livingston’s first book, the childhood memoir Ghostbread, won an AWP Award for Creative Nonfiction. Her other books include the essay collections Queen of the Fall: A Memoir of Girls and Goddesses; The Virgin of Prince Street: Expeditions in Devotion; and Ladies Night at the Dreamland, one of Kirkus Review’s “Best Nonfiction Books of 2016.” She is also the author of the craft guide Fifty-Two Snapshots: A Memoir Starter Kit.
Sonja’s work has appeared in such journals as Ploughshares, Salon, Brevity, and Kenyon Review, and in many anthologies, including Contemporary Nonfiction, The Best of Brevity, and Waveform: Twenty-First-Century Essays by Women. She is an associate professor and Director of the Creative Writing Program at Virginia Commonwealth University and teaches in the Postgraduate Program at Vermont College of Fine Arts.
Course Description
Readers are hungrier than ever for personal stories that not only inform, but help connect us with each other while expanding our sense of the world. Meanwhile, writers are hungry to tell their stories in ways that dig deep and resonate.
Whether you’re just starting out or want to revive a project that has stalled, this workshop will help you jumpstart your creative nonfiction project using brief pieces or “snapshots.” Inspired by a range of contemporary writers and the work you submit (which can be a memoir excerpt, one long essay or collection of brief essays; no more than 4500 words) this class will offer craft talks, writing prompts and time to discuss your writing in a supportive environment. You’ll come away with fresh ideas and several draft “snapshots” which may be expanded into longer works or polished into a series of micro-memoirs.