MEMBER PRICE: $60.00
NON-MEMBER PRICE: $75.00
Memoir is often praised as the genre that can best capture and convey the truth of a writer’s life. But this premise and promise can feel faulty and constraining. In turn this course looks to autofiction as an alternative way to tell stories linked to the self. It asks: What is autofiction? How is autofiction different from memoir or creative nonfiction? What personal, political and literary purposes might it serve?
In order to answer such questions, this course introduces participants to the strengths and limitations found in some key contemporary memoirs, and then it shifts to exploring recent contemporary autofiction. It shows how autofiction allows authors to question the boundary between truth and fiction, construct alter egos, re-imagine life events, reconfigure form – and create the most compelling literary, political and philosophical chaos.
Participants will also be given tips, tricks and relevant prompts designed to enable them to craft their own autofictional slice of life, which they may share with others in the group. Participants will learn how to turn themselves into a main character, introduce other relevant characters, and recreate compelling conflicts and themes. Generous and insightful feedback from the instructor will also available. For the final two classes, participants are invited to submit a polished piece of autofiction in advance to the group in order to receive the most extensive commentary possible.
Some of the works we will explore include: Terese Marie Mailhot’s Heart Berries, Kai Cheng Thom’s Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars, Sinéad O’Connor’s Rememberings, Kiese Laymon’s Heavy, Chris Kraus’ I Love Dick, Sheila Heti’s How Should A Person Be and Fatima Daas’ The Last One.