Saturday, April 26th, 2025

Live Seminar Via Zoom 12:00PM CST – 3:00PM CST

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Samantha Ladwig's writing has appeared in publications such as The Cut, Vulture, Literary Hub, Vice, HuffPost, Real Simple, Bustle, CrimeReads, Vox, Brevity, BUST, and The Kitchn, among others. She is also a longtime book reviewer for BUST and a creative writing instructor and mentor. Over the years, her work has provided her opportunities to attend, and sometimes cover, the Academy Awards, Telluride Film Festival, AFI Fest, and the Seattle International Film Festival. She lives on a small island in the Salish Sea.

How do we write about an event that those closest to us remember differently? This workshop will discuss ways to approach memory in creative nonfiction.

Memory is a curated collection of our past. We recall conversations and events differently from those closest to us, be it a partner, sibling, friend, or parent. At first glance, this challenge to our lived experience might present itself as a creative roadblock.

How do we write about something that the person sitting next to us remembers differently? How do we soothe the self-doubt that follows such a realization, which can keep us from moving forward in our work?

This workshop will discuss ways to approach memory in creative nonfiction, how sometimes embracing what we don’t know can enhance an essay and lift the deeper meaning from the text. Students will write on a number of prompts following the discussion.

COURSE READING

Samantha will email out select readings about a week before the start of the workshop.

COURSE TAKEAWAYS:

• Learn how to write into the unknown.
• Learn how to embrace memory, even when it's fuzzy and/or challenged.
• Gain an understanding of different types of essays.
• Learn how other writers approach memory when it deals with other people.

COURSE OUTLINE:

• Hour 1: Discussion on readings.
• Hour 2: Prompts.
• Hour 3: Sharing and discussion on ways to incorporate the work they generated in class into larger works, types of essays, and how other writers approach writing about people.

ONLINE COURSE STRUCTURE:

This class will meet via Zoom on Saturday, April 26th, 2025 from 12:00PM CST – 3:00PM CST

• Samantha Ladwig | Live via Zoom

• Saturday, April 26th, 2025

• Live Seminar Via Zoom, 12:00PM CST – 3:00PM CST