As writers of so-called creative nonfiction, how do we balance engaging storytelling with critical context or background information? And how do we make meaning of our stories for the benefit of readers? Write too vaguely and we miss the opportunity to engage readers in our meaning-making processes, but overwriting can be its own alienating force. In this two hour workshop, we'll look at the art of writing scenes, engaging exposition, and rich meaning-making, and how to artfully move back and forth among them in compelling, artful prose. The workshop will include a combination of lecture, close reading activities, writing exercises, and group discussion.
Instructor: Lauren Markham is a writer based in California whose work regularly appears in outlets such as Harper's, The New York Review of Books, The New York Times Magazine and VQR, where she is a contributing editor. She is also the author of the award-winning The Far Away Brothers: Two Young Migrants and the Making of an American Life and the recently-released A Map of Future Ruins: On Borders and Belonging. Her third book, Immemorial, will be published by Transit Books in 2025.
