Memoir is not only a method of telling our stories, but it’s also a way of deeply seeing and examining our lives. In some ways, it’s as if we get the great gift of living our lives twice and creating art from our material—your mother’s death, your children leaving home, that summer you hiked the Appalachian Trail or followed The Grateful Dead. Memoir helps us slow down and truly see what writer Vivian Gornick calls “the situation and the story”—the series of events and the deep emotional current rushing underneath.

This memoir-writing workshop with Robert Wilder explores what’s at the emotional center of memoir and how to employ writerly craft so our stories resonate with the reader. This workshop combines the source of inspiration by sitting and walking meditation, moments of silence, and Natalie Goldberg’s writing practice in the mornings with precise writing exercises and the close study of successful published pieces to help hone our technical skills in the afternoons. There is free time to write on your own, take a nap, walk, and/or explore Santa Fe. Bring fast writing pens, notebooks or a laptop, and an open mind. A short reading list is sent to students in advance.

At the end of our time together, participants leave with pages and pages of new material as well as methods to shape your writing into a more cohesive work. In addition, you gain new insights into how to fit consistent writing practice into your busy lives once you return home. This workshop is guaranteed to inspire, delight and support you on your journey to create meaning from the raw cloth of living.