In order for memoir to reach a broad audience, the writer's personal experience must be relatable to the reader. In this class, writers will look at their own experiences and dig deeper to find the kernels of truth that make personal stories memorable. I will share by basic framework for memoir, which I call the creative nonfiction pyramid, to help writers think about how to share not only their own memories but also to expose the universal on the page.

Class meets online via Zoom. A link to join the class will be sent within 24 hours of the session.

Class meets Wednesday, January 18, 6:30 - 8:00 pm Central Time

Class size: There is no maximum limit. Minimum 10.

Member discount : Members of Write On receive a 10% discount on all classes and workshops. To become a member, please click here. To receive the discount, members must log in to the website using their unique password and enter member10 in the promotion code box. The code is case sensitive.

Teaching Artist: Anika Fajardo  was born in Colombia and raised in Minnesota. She is the author of a book about that experience, Magical Realism for Non-Believers: A Memoir of Finding Family (University of Minnesota Press, 2019), which was awarded Best Book (Nonfiction) of 2020 from City Pages and was a finalist for the 2020 Minnesota Book Award. Her debut middle-grade novel What If a Fish (Simon & Schuster, 2020) was awarded the 2021 Minnesota Book Award. Her next book for young readers, Meet Me Halfway (Simon & Schuster) will be published in fall 2022. Her writing for adults and children has appeared in numerous publications including Brief Encounters: A Collection of Contemporary Nonfiction (Norton), We Are Meant to Rise: Voices for Justice from Minneapolis to the World (U of Minnesota Press), and Sky Blue Waters: Great Stories for Young Readers (U of Minnesota Press). Fajardo also wrote Encanto: A Tale of Three Sisters, the middle-grade tie-in novel for the Disney film Encanto. She has earned awards from the Minnesota State Arts Board, the Jerome Foundation, and the Loft Literary Center. A former elementary teacher and former academic librarian, she has a passion for connecting people with information and loves teaching writing. She currently teaches at Augsburg University’s MFA program and at the Loft Literary, where she also serves on the Board of Directors. She has mentored emerging writers through the Loft Literary Center’s acclaimed Mentor Series and Las Musas’s Hermanas mentorship program, and she visits schools and community groups to share her books and teach writing to kids. She lives with her family in Minneapolis.