Starts on Wednesday, January 14, 2026

Class will meet weekly via Zoom on Wednesdays, 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM EST

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Instructor Bio

Instructor Elizabeth Austin's writing has appeared in The New York Times, Time, Harper's Bazaar, McSweeney's, Electric Literature, and others. She is currently working on a memoir about being a bad cancer mom. She lives outside of Philadelphia with her two children and their many pets. 

Who is this class for?

This course is for writers who want to transform experiences of illness, disability, or caregiving into powerful personal essays. Whether you're writing about your own health journey or caring for others, this online writing workshop offers craft guidance, supportive community, and practical strategies for creating honest, compelling illness narratives. Open to all levels.

What to expect:

Illness reshapes every part of who we are. In this 4-week intensive nonfiction workshop, you'll explore how to write about the complex experiences of illness and caregiving with honesty and craft. Through close readings of established illness narratives and guided writing exercises, you'll study how writers transform medical experiences into powerful personal essays that honor both the clinical and the deeply human.

Drawing on narrative medicine principles and craft essays, this creative writing course offers a generative, supportive environment where writers can develop both craft and voice while navigating the unique challenges of medical storytelling. Each week combines instruction on essay craft with practical writing exercises designed to help you capture the physical, emotional, and relational dimensions of illness experience. You'll receive ongoing guidance throughout the workshop, with detailed instructor feedback on one submitted draft midway through the class.

You'll leave this online essay workshop with two new draft essays, a deeper understanding of the illness narrative tradition, concrete revision strategies, and a clearer path toward sharing your story with readers. This Zoom writing class provides the craft tools, supportive community, and practical guidance you need to transform personal medical experience into compelling literary nonfiction.

What are the writing goals?

In this course, students will produce two new essay drafts centered on illness, caregiving, or medical experience, and one revised piece ready for workshop feedback or submission. Students will receive ongoing guidance on their work throughout the course and detailed written feedback on one submitted draft midway through the class.

Readings

Readings may include excerpts from The Wounded Storyteller by Arthur Frank, "The Pain Scale" by Eula Biss, and "The Empathy Exams" by Leslie Jamison.

COURSE OUTLINE

Week 1: The Body Speaks: Writing Embodied Experience Reading: Excerpts from The Wounded Storyteller by Arthur Frank Focus: Writing the body with specificity and sensation; capturing pain, treatment, and physical transformation; grounding medical experience in vivid, sensory detail Assignment: Draft an essay grounded in physical, embodied experience

Week 2: Beyond the Diagnosis: Complicating Medical Narratives Reading: "The Pain Scale" by Eula Biss Focus: Resisting simple recovery narratives and inspiration myths; structural innovation in illness essays; honesty, vulnerability, and agency on the page Draft Submission: Students submit their Week 1 draft to the instructor for individual written feedback Assignment: Draft a second essay experimenting with structure or voice

Week 3: Care, Connection, and Revision: Shaping Your Story Reading: "The Empathy Exams" by Leslie Jamison Focus: Illness as relational experience; patient-caregiver dynamics; doctor-patient relationships; writing about dependency and care; revision strategies for illness narratives; craft decisions (structure, time, beginning/ending); ethical considerations in medical writing Workshop: Discussion of 2-3 student drafts with peer feedback (optional) Assignment: Revise one essay based on feedback; continue drafting or deepening existing work

Week 4: Moving Forward: Publication, Continued Writing & Self-Care Reading: Selected published illness narratives (examples of successful essays) Focus: Identifying submission targets for illness narratives; understanding editorial expectations; crafting effective cover letters and author bios; strategies for continued drafting and revision beyond the course; ongoing self-care for illness writers: sustaining a writing practice about difficult material; managing emotional proximity; building resilience as a medical storyteller Final sharing and celebration of work completed; personal goal-setting for next steps

COURSE TAKEAWAYS:

• Transform medical experience into compelling, craft-driven personal essays using scene, sensory detail, and narrative structure
• Develop a voice that balances vulnerability with artistic control while maintaining agency over your illness story
• Apply narrative medicine principles (attention, representation, affiliation) to your writing practice
• Build a collection of prompts and strategies for sustaining a long-term writing practice about health, healing, and the body
• Produce two new essay drafts and one revised piece ready for submission
• Understand the illness narrative tradition and your place within it.

Tuition is $345. You can pay for the course in full or use Shop Pay or Affirm to pay over time with equal Monthly Payments. Both options are available at checkout.

ONLINE COURSE STRUCTURE:

• Instructor: Elizabeth Austin
• Begins Wednesday, January 14, 2026
• Class will meet weekly via Zoom on Wednesdays, 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM EST
• Tuition is $345 USD.