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UID:10004717-1778607900-1778615100@qwf.org
SUMMARY:Crafting a Compelling Personal Essay
DESCRIPTION:The personal essay sits at the crossroads of memory\, imagination\, and reflection. It is a form that invites vulnerability and experimentation\, asking writers to turn the lens inward while reaching outward toward readers. This ten-week workshop explores the craft of creative nonfiction through readings\, discussion\, and guided writing exercises. Together\, we’ll study a wide range of contemporary essayists and thinkers such as Sheila Heti\, Alicia Elliott\, Maggie Nelson\, James Baldwin\, Leslie Jamison\, and Joan Didion\, whose work challenges and expands our understanding of form\, voice\, structure\, and truth-telling. \n\n\n\nEach week\, participants will write in response to prompts designed to help them develop their voice\, experiment with structure\, and explore the ethical and emotional complexities of writing about real lives (our own and others’). We will discuss fragments and braids\, confession and restraint\, intimacy and distance\, always returning to the central question: how do we shape lived experience into compelling art? \n\n\n\nBy the end of the workshop\, participants will have generated several essay fragments and drafts\, gained tools for revision\, and deepened their understanding of the essay as both a personal and public act. Writers will leave with at least one essay draft they can continue to refine beyond the course. No prior experience is required—just a willingness to read closely\, write bravely\, and share generously. \n\n\n\nWeek 1 — What Is a Personal Essay? \n\n\n\nTheme: Truth\, memory\, and the boundaries of nonfiction.Readings: \n\n\n\n\nSarah Manguso\, The Two Kinds of Decay (selections)\n\n\n\nJoan Didion\, “On Keeping a Notebook”\n\n\n\n\nIn-Class: \n\n\n\n\nIntroductions & course goals\n\n\n\nDiscuss “truth” vs. “fact” in essay\n\n\n\nPrompt: Write a short scene from memory\, then annotate where memory fails\n\n\n\n\nHomework: Write a 600–800-word vignette about a formative memory. \n\n\n\nWeek 2 — Memory and Fragment \n\n\n\nTheme: Shaping nonlinear memory.Readings: \n\n\n\n\nSheila Heti\, Motherhood (fragmented passages)\n\n\n\nMaggie Nelson\, Bluets (selections)\n\n\n\n\nIn-Class: \n\n\n\n\nDiscussion: how fragment builds resonance\n\n\n\nExercise: Write three fragmentary takes on the same memory\n\n\n\n\nHomework: Develop a mosaic-style essay (1\,000 words). \n\n\n\nWeek 3 — Intimacy and Confession \n\n\n\nTheme: The essayist’s voice and vulnerability.Readings: \n\n\n\n\nAlicia Elliott\, “A Mind Spread Out on the Ground” (title essay)\n\n\n\nLeslie Jamison\, The Empathy Exams (title essay excerpt)\n\n\n\n\nIn-Class: \n\n\n\n\nConfessional vs. performative honesty\n\n\n\nPrompt: Write a letter to someone you cannot send it to\n\n\n\n\nHomework: Expand into a 1\,200-word letter-essay. \n\n\n\nWeek 4 — Deepening Voice\, Tone & Emotional Register \n\n\n\nTheme: How voice\, tone\, and emotional distance shape the personal essay.Readings: \n\n\n\n\nZadie Smith\, “Fail Better”\n\n\n\nKatherena Vermette\, selected interviews on writing community\, trauma\, and point of view\n\n\n\n\nIn-Class: \n\n\n\n\nDiscuss tonal shifts: intimacy\, distance\, authority\, hesitance\n\n\n\nExercise: Rewrite a paragraph in three distinct tonal registers (tender\, analytical\, ironic)\n\n\n\n\nHomework: Revise your Week 3 letter-essay with purposeful tonal modulation. \n\n\n\nWeek 5 — Structure and Form \n\n\n\nTheme: Chronology\, braiding\, and experimentation.Readings: \n\n\n\n\nSarah Manguso replaced here to avoid repetition →NEW reading:\n\nJenny Offill\, Dept. of Speculation (fragmented passages on structure)\n\n\n\n\n\nEula Biss\, “Time and Distance Overcome”\n\n\n\n\nIn-Class: \n\n\n\n\nDiscuss braiding personal + cultural history\n\n\n\nExercise: Write a short braided passage (memory + outside text/reference)\n\n\n\n\nHomework: Draft a braided essay (1\,200–1\,500 words). \n\n\n\nWeek 6 — The Self as Character \n\n\n\nTheme: Distance between narrator and narrated self.Readings: \n\n\n\n\nSheila Heti\, How Should a Person Be? (essayistic passages)\n\n\n\nJames Baldwin\, “Notes of a Native Son” (opening sections)\n\n\n\n\nIn-Class: \n\n\n\n\nCompare Baldwin’s authority with Heti’s uncertainty\n\n\n\nPrompt: Write a scene twice — once from the past self’s POV\, once from the present self’s POV\n\n\n\n\nHomework: Develop one version into a polished essay draft. \n\n\n\nWeek 7 — Risk\, Ethics\, and Responsibility \n\n\n\nTheme: Writing what feels dangerous; truth vs. harm.Readings: \n\n\n\n\nKatherena Vermette\, interview excerpts on writing community\, family\, trauma\n\n\n\nAlexander Chee\, “The Autobiography of My Novel”\n\n\n\n\nIn-Class: \n\n\n\n\nDebate: what’s “too much” to share?\n\n\n\nWorkshop 2–3 student essays\n\n\n\n\nHomework: Revise draft based on feedback. \n\n\n\nWeek 8 — Revision and Compression \n\n\n\nTheme: Re-seeing\, cutting\, deepening.Readings: \n\n\n\n\nJenny Offill\, Dept. of Speculation (compression and brevity passages)\n\n\n\nJoan Didion\, “Goodbye to All That”\n\n\n\n\nIn-Class: \n\n\n\n\nRevision strategies (How to “write coldly”)\n\n\n\nPrompt: Take a draft and cut it to 70% length without losing essence\n\n\n\n\nHomework: Prepare a near-final essay draft (1\,500–2\,000 words). \n\n\n\nWeek 9 — Workshop Intensive & Thematic Excavation \n\n\n\nTheme: Deep structural and thematic revision.Readings: \n\n\n\n\nNone — focus on student manuscripts.\n\n\n\n\nIn-Class: \n\n\n\n\nHalf-class workshop\n\n\n\nIdentifying the essay’s “governing question”\n\n\n\nDiscuss strategies for expansion vs. contraction\n\n\n\n\nHomework: Revise based on workshop + draft your artistic statement. \n\n\n\nWeek 10 — Final Workshop & Publication Paths \n\n\n\nTheme: Reflection and sharing.Readings: \n\n\n\n\nNone — focus on participant work.\n\n\n\n\nIn-Class: \n\n\n\n\nFinal peer workshop\n\n\n\nDiscuss venues for publishing personal essays (journals\, anthologies\, online mags)\n\n\n\nClosing: Write a brief artistic statement on your personal essay practice\n\n\n\n\nHomework: Submit final essay + artistic statement. \n\n\n\nBy the end\, students will have:\n\n\n\nA stronger sense of their essayistic voice and relationship to truth. \n\n\n\nA good command of how to craft a compelling personal essay. \n\n\n\nExperience with both traditional and experimental essay forms.
URL:https://qwf.org/event/crafting-a-compelling-personal-essay/2026-05-12/
LOCATION:Online via Zoom
CATEGORIES:QWF Workshops,Workshops
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://qwf.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/4.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260514T174500
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260514T194500
DTSTAMP:20260417T104823
CREATED:20260107T182233Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260107T182237Z
UID:10004789-1778780700-1778787900@qwf.org
SUMMARY:Crafting a Compelling Personal Essay (Thursdays)
DESCRIPTION:The personal essay sits at the crossroads of memory\, imagination\, and reflection. It is a form that invites vulnerability and experimentation\, asking writers to turn the lens inward while reaching outward toward readers. This ten-week workshop explores the craft of creative nonfiction through readings\, discussion\, and guided writing exercises. Together\, we’ll study a wide range of contemporary essayists and thinkers such as Sheila Heti\, Alicia Elliott\, Maggie Nelson\, James Baldwin\, Leslie Jamison\, and Joan Didion\, whose work challenges and expands our understanding of form\, voice\, structure\, and truth-telling. \n\n\n\nEach week\, participants will write in response to prompts designed to help them develop their voice\, experiment with structure\, and explore the ethical and emotional complexities of writing about real lives (our own and others’). We will discuss fragments and braids\, confession and restraint\, intimacy and distance\, always returning to the central question: how do we shape lived experience into compelling art? \n\n\n\nBy the end of the workshop\, participants will have generated several essay fragments and drafts\, gained tools for revision\, and deepened their understanding of the essay as both a personal and public act. Writers will leave with at least one essay draft they can continue to refine beyond the course. No prior experience is required—just a willingness to read closely\, write bravely\, and share generously. \n\n\n\nWeek 1 — What Is a Personal Essay?Theme: Truth\, memory\, and the boundaries of nonfiction.Readings:Sarah Manguso\, The Two Kinds of Decay (selections)Joan Didion\, “On Keeping a Notebook”In-Class:Introductions & course goalsDiscuss “truth” vs. “fact” in essayPrompt: Write a short scene from memory\, then annotate where memory failsHomework: Write a 600–800-word vignette about a formative memory. \n\n\n\nWeek 2 — Memory and FragmentTheme: Shaping nonlinear memory.Readings:Sheila Heti\, Motherhood (fragmented passages)Maggie Nelson\, Bluets (selections)In-Class:Discussion: how fragment builds resonanceExercise: Write three fragmentary takes on the same memoryHomework: Develop a mosaic-style essay (1\,000 words). \n\n\n\nWeek 3 — Intimacy and ConfessionTheme: The essayist’s voice and vulnerability.Readings:Alicia Elliott\, “A Mind Spread Out on the Ground” (title essay)Leslie Jamison\, The Empathy Exams (title essay excerpt)In-Class:Confessional vs. performative honestyPrompt: Write a letter to someone you cannot send it toHomework: Expand into a 1\,200-word letter-essay. \n\n\n\nWeek 4 — Deepening Voice\, Tone & Emotional RegisterTheme: How voice\, tone\, and emotional distance shape the personal essay.Readings:Zadie Smith\, “Fail Better”Katherena Vermette\, selected interviews on writing community\, trauma\, and point of viewIn-Class:Discuss tonal shifts: intimacy\, distance\, authority\, hesitanceExercise: Rewrite a paragraph in three distinct tonal registers (tender\, analytical\, ironic)Homework: Revise your Week 3 letter-essay with purposeful tonal modulation. \n\n\n\nWeek 5 — Structure and FormTheme: Chronology\, braiding\, and experimentation.Readings:Jenny Offill\, Dept. of Speculation (fragmented passages on structure)Eula Biss\, “Time and Distance Overcome”In-Class:Discuss braiding personal + cultural historyExercise: Write a short braided passage (memory + outside text/reference)Homework: Draft a braided essay (1\,200–1\,500 words). \n\n\n\nWeek 6 — The Self as CharacterTheme: Distance between narrator and narrated self.Readings:Sheila Heti\, How Should a Person Be? (essayistic passages)James Baldwin\, “Notes of a Native Son” (opening sections)In-Class:Compare Baldwin’s authority with Heti’s uncertaintyPrompt: Write a scene twice — once from the past self’s POV\, once from the present self’s POVHomework: Develop one version into a polished essay draft. \n\n\n\nWeek 7 — Risk\, Ethics\, and ResponsibilityTheme: Writing what feels dangerous; truth vs. harm.Readings:Katherena Vermette\, interview excerpts on writing community\, family\, traumaAlexander Chee\, “The Autobiography of My Novel”In-Class:Debate: what’s “too much” to share?Workshop 2–3 student essaysHomework: Revise draft based on feedback. \n\n\n\nWeek 8 — Revision and CompressionTheme: Re-seeing\, cutting\, deepening.Readings:Jenny Offill\, Dept. of Speculation (compression and brevity passages)Joan Didion\, “Goodbye to All That”In-Class:Revision strategies (How to “write coldly”)Prompt: Take a draft and cut it to 70% length without losing essenceHomework: Prepare a near-final essay draft (1\,500–2\,000 words). \n\n\n\nWeek 9 — Workshop Intensive & Thematic ExcavationTheme: Deep structural and thematic revision.Readings:None — focus on student manuscripts.In-Class:Half-class workshopIdentifying the essay’s “governing question”Discuss strategies for expansion vs. contractionHomework: Revise based on workshop + draft your artistic statement. \n\n\n\nWeek 10 — Final Workshop & Publication PathsTheme: Reflection and sharing.Readings:None — focus on participant work.In-Class:Final peer workshopDiscuss venues for publishing personal essays (journals\, anthologies\, online mags)Closing: Write a brief artistic statement on your personal essay practiceHomework: Submit final essay + artistic statement. \n\n\n\nBy the end\, students will have:\n\n\n\nA stronger sense of their essayistic voice and relationship to truth. \n\n\n\nA good command of how to craft a compelling personal essay. \n\n\n\nExperience with both traditional and experimental essay forms.
URL:https://qwf.org/event/crafting-a-compelling-personal-essay-thursdays/2026-05-14/
LOCATION:Quebec
CATEGORIES:QWF Workshops,Workshops
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://qwf.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/4.png
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260516T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260525T120000
DTSTAMP:20260417T104823
CREATED:20250717T141455Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250718T182743Z
UID:10004425-1778929200-1779710400@qwf.org
SUMMARY:Writers' Retreat: Doolin\, Ireland May 2026
DESCRIPTION:Join a small group of writers in various genres for our second retreat to Doolin\, Ireland. 10 days\, 9 nights with writing workshops with memoir and prose writer Kerri Ní Dochartaigh\, poet Nikki Griffin\, poet Grace Wells\, and creative nonfiction writer Ryan Dennis; field trips to the largest Aran Island\, the Burren\, and the cliffs of Moher. Depending on room type\, prices range from $2400USD-$2900USD (and USD are not as far off from CAD as they used to be). Includes lodging\, 2 meals per day (except first day (welcome dinner) and last day (breakfast); and all activities. Does not include alcohol\, or airfare. Limited to 10 participants at any stage of their writing career. \n\n\n\nRetreat website: https://www.nature-culture.net/ireland-retreat-2026 \n\n\n\nWe had a great time this year; see photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/X2E2ATaUNz4EQ2Zw6 \n\n\n\nHope you can join us! \n\n\n\n\n\nStart:May 16\, 2026\, 4:00 pm UTC/London Time \n\n\n\nEnd:May 25\, 2026\, 10:00 am UTC/London Time \n\n\nEvent Category: Book Launch\n\n\nVenue: Doolin\, Ireland — Doolin\, County Clare Ireland\, View Venue Website
URL:https://qwf.org/event/writers-retreat-doolin-ireland-may-2026/
LOCATION:Quebec
CATEGORIES:Retreat
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://qwf.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Ireland-2026-ver1-landscape.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260516T143000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260516T173000
DTSTAMP:20260417T104823
CREATED:20260413T174942Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260415T170243Z
UID:10004925-1778941800-1778952600@qwf.org
SUMMARY:Embodied Writing - Wellspring Edition
DESCRIPTION:The wellspring is that which precedes effort: the body before interpretation\, breath before direction\, knowing before language takes shape. It is not made; it is met. \nWriting begins here\, where what has been gathering beneath the surface starts to rise—no longer hidden\, not fully formed\, but already moving through us like the ecstasy of sunlight in our veins. \nThis workshop invites you to write\, attuning to the source beneath thought\, and letting language surge through the body as it takes its rightful place in the world. \nOur practice will interweave: \n\nKundalini breathwork\nStretches & light movement\nCreative writing prompts & exercises\nMeditation\nAn optional sharing & discussion circle\nHomemade chai & a sweet treat\n\nWhat to bring: \nYour journal\, a pen\, comfy clothes\, and a willing heart. \nWhat to know: \nPens & paper will be available. Seating options will include chairs\, mats\, and back jacks. There will be space to move\, shift\, and settle as needed. \nAccessibility: \nThe space is on the 4th floor. There are a few steps leading up into the lobby where there is an elevator accessible. \nAbout the facilitator: \nMaya Khamala is a lifelong writer of many stripes. From poetry to grassroots journalism to creative nonfiction\, word is her bond. She has collaborated with visual artists\, and worked as a freelance copywriter and editor. She has a shiny little MA in Creative Writing to list among her credentials\, and is an emerging novelist. Maya has an extensive background in feminist\, anti-racist\, climate justice and Indigenous solidarity movements—work that has deeply informed the way she wields words. Aside from being a writer\, she is also a Kundalini Yoga teacher and Embodied Writing facilitator. She got into Kundalini as a way of healing from childhood trauma and its many lifelong manifestations in her body\, as well as to counteract being a writer who sometimes forgets to step away from the keyboard…and just breathe. \nAll are welcome. Limited spots. \n  \nSign up: https://heartfirekundalini.com/#events
URL:https://qwf.org/event/embodied-writing-wellspring-edition/
LOCATION:Studio 414\, 10 Avenue des Pins West #414\, Montreal
CATEGORIES:Workshops
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://qwf.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Square-wellspring.jpg
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