This is an intensive course for those interested in challenging themselves to take on hybrid forms of writing from lived experience, whether autofiction, memoir or from historical, or family, record.

There are many ways to write the stories of historical figures, of people we have known, or of our own experience. Whether we lean towards fiction or non-fiction in the stories we want to tell, we will face similar questions of how best to create a character, how to ground that character and their story in time and in place, from which perspective to write, how to deal with gaps in the record, conflicts in interpretation, and our own part in the story and its telling.

This course will explore ways of approaching these questions in the writing of a life, or lives, based in lived experience and/or historical reality. Over the course of the six sessions, each participant will have the opportunity to present a short section of their work-in-progress for class workshop. Each session will include feedback, mini-talks, suggested readings and dedicated time for questions and answers.