NONFICTION I—PERSONAL ESSAY & MEMOIR


Elizabeth L Silver_author photo (David Zaugh) sq.jpg

Elizabeth L. Silver
Enrollment limit: 8 students
$420 new; $380 returning
(Payment plans available for returning students.)

May we recommend How to Compose & Publish a Prose Chapbook?

In this eight-week course, students will read, discuss, and write essays (or chapters) that will explore the genre(s) of personal narrative and memoir. The readings will be selected to stimulate thinking, exemplify different techniques and styles, and suggest techniques for engaging personal and creative expression. There will be in-class and homework exercises that address topics such as persona, audience, story, description, memory and truth, and ethical considerations specific to the genre. Students will have the chance to workshop their writing in a serious environment meant to challenge and inspire each member of the class.

Nonfiction I is also open to more experienced writers who want to brush up on the basics or try their hand at a new nonfiction form. This class will take place in Encino near Sherman Oaks, where wine, sparkling water, and the occasional gourmet snack will be served. If you'd like to join a waitlist for this class, please email us at info@writingworkshopsla.com.


Closed

Encino/Sherman Oaks
Wednesdays
7:30 to 9:30 pm
July 18, 2021 to September 12, 2021 (with no class on August 8)


Elizabeth L Silver is the author of the memoir, The Tincture of Time: A Parent's Memoir of (Medical) Uncertainty (Penguin Press, 2017) and the critically acclaimed novel, The Execution of Noa P. Singleton (Crown, 2013), which was the Amazon Best Debut of the Month, an Amazon Best Book of the Year, Kirkus Best Book of the Summer, and published in seven languages. Elizabeth’s writing has appeared The Washington Post, McSweeney’s, Lenny Letter, New York Magazine, Literary Hub, The Rumpus, The Los Angeles Review, The Millions, The Dallas Morning News, among others, and she has received fellowships and residencies from Ucross Foundation, Ragdale, Byrdcliffe Artist Colony, A Room of Her Own Foundation, and the British Centre for Literary Translation. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, the MA program in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia in England, and Temple University Beasley School of Law, Elizabeth lives with her family in Los Angeles. Visit her online at  www.ElizabethLSilver.com.

Reviews

The Tincture of Time: A Parent's Memoir of (Medical) Uncertainty

“A delicate weave of cultural analysis, personal history, and religious teachings in a meditation on the limits of science and the boundless capacity of the human heart.” —O, The Oprah Magazine

“Silver brings to this moving personal account a novelist’s pacing, a poet’s lyricism and a researcher’s meticulousness for fact.” —The Dallas Morning News

“Smartly conceived and well written. . . . An excellent book.” —Publishers Weekly

The Execution of Noa P. Singleton

“Compelling debut…A clever examination of the nature of destiny and the choices we make, this thought-provoking book is reminiscent of John Grisham’s The Confession in its exploration of the death penalty. Silver has successfully written a suspenseful, absorbing tale. This is a special treat for mystery fans.” —Library Journal (starred review)

“[A] searing debut…This devastating read stands less as a polemic against the death penalty than as a heartbreaking brief for the preciousness of life.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Bracing and combative… a classic slow-burn, with Ms. Silver spinning the web…and masterfully revealing the threads that connect [the characters] to each other and to the crime…The novel proceeds to its heart-wrenching conclusion by a series of feints and betrayals that would make Gillian Flynn stand and applaud.” —The Wall Street Journal