Life Writing & Memoir Workshop with Giovanna Iozzi

“You must write a memoir as if you’re writing a novel, you have to give it a shape.” Blake Morrison

Over six weeks, you will learn all about the popular and compelling memoir form with useful writing exercises, guidance, tips and ideas which will help you identify your own themes as well as recalling key memories and events for your own life writing material. This course is designed so that all levels of writer will be inspired and benefit from each session – whether you’re completely new to life writing, or you already have a memoir project on the go.

As well as reading a range of strong and diverse memoir writers, you will gain insights on: how to develop your own voice on the page; how to hook readers into your story; how to use fascinating and relatable details about your life to keep up the pace and maintain page turnability.

You will begin to understand how novelistic devices like dialogue, scene-building,
setting, summary, interiority and tension can help to create a vivid world the reader disappears inside.

Half of each session will be given over to students to receive valuable, supportive
feedback on their work. Students will also be able to share extracts of memoir
projects they are already working on.

We will read extracts from great examples of the form including: Carmen Maria
Machado, Audre Lorde, Jeanette Winterson, Deborah Orr, Patti Smith, Viv Albertine, Deborah Levy, Chimamanda Adichie Ngozi, Tim Lott, John Burnside, Nadia Osuwu and Lemn Sissay.

All levels welcome.

Our tutor Giovanna says...

Listening to the students' work, whether it’s joyful, funny, dark or heart breaking is a real privilege. As my own writing is highly autobiographical, I feel as if we are on similar writing journeys, exploring our way in the dark mostly, warmly lit by each others’ support. We all gain so much from exploring and engaging with the memoir form in class together; the insights and ideas which emerge are illuminating.