Breath life into your memoir 

Tue, Feb 3, 10, 17 & 24
6:30-8:30pm CT, Hybrid (in-person at Gemini Ink or online via Zoom)
Nonmember: $200; Member: $170; Student/Educ/Mil: $140
*EARN CPEs; TWO SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE

Are you in the throes of writing your memoir but unsure how to make readers truly feel your story?  Learn to transform your personal experiences into an immersive, resonant journey by tapping into your senses!

This four-week hybrid course will help you unlock the power of sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell to bring your memoir to life. Through engaging activities and guided exercises, you’ll explore the sensory details of key moments in your story and use them to develop your memoir more fully. We’ll build from these moments to create stronger characters, richer plotlines, and breakthroughs in your writing. Students are encouraged to bring a memoir-in-progress, if they have one.  We will also generate work in class.

This workshop is open to writers of all skill levels 18+.

Workshop participants will leave with the following:

• Strategies for using sensory elements to recall memories
• Guidance on how to incorporate sensory elements into your work, including how to negotiate difficult moments in your memoir with confidence and control
• A polished section of your memoir to build on

Denise Tolan‘s work has appeared in The Best Small Fictions, The Penn Review, Cherry Tree, and Lunch Ticket. Denise was a finalist for Best of the Net and the International Literary Awards: Penelope Niven Prize in Nonfiction. Her memoir, Italian Blood, was a finalist for the 2024 Eric Hoffer book award and the Reader’s Choice Awards. Denise has taught Creative Writing classes at the college level for over 20 years and given workshops at conferences in Texas, Arizona, Ohio, and Oklahoma.