WRIT42276 - Personal Essay Intensive

Course Description

Few forms beckon like the personal essay. There is its whisper-in-your-ear intimacy, the mining of an "I" (and eye), the signature movement of mind as a drive for understanding that is highly individual manages to tap and thrum with what connects us, with the universal. For the writer, the potential for ideas is unlimited. It can be about anything, an allure -- and challenge. How does the personal essayist reach beyond the self? What turns a private musing into a search that has power?

In the first class, we’ll probe how fine essayists do just that, drawing on those lessons and in-class prompts to launch our own efforts. Participants will then have a few days after the first class to submit drafts. The instructor will return critiques a few days later. Participants will have the opportunity to revise, and the last class will be spent, in part, discussing excerpts of revised essays.

First session: Saturday, January 11

First chapter due to instructor: Tuesday, January 14, by 11:59 p.m.

Instructor returns comments: Sunday, January 19, by noon

Second session: January 25