Experiments in Autobiography
A July Writing Intensive
with Kristen E. Nelson & Selah Saterstrom
auto: self, one's own, by oneself, of oneself
biography: bios = life + graphia = process of writing
Join Kristen E. Nelson and Selah Saterstrom for a dynamic month-long immersive creative writing experience that will infuse your creative nonfiction process with invigorating strategies and innovative frameworks designed to move your work forward with renewed energy, clarity, and purpose.
Throughout this course, we'll explore how to draw on personal experiences to create art that stretches beyond the limits of traditional memoir. We'll experiment with various contemporary approaches, blending elements of fact, speculation, research, and imagination so that we might develop and refine our own autobiographical writing.
We know the techniques in this course work, because we’ve been where you are! And because we’ve seen them work for twenty-five years with our students from all over the world. Between us we have authored seven books and have taught in universities and in a diverse array of community settings around the globe—we’ve had the joyful privilege of helping hundreds of folx manifest their most pressing work into manuscripts that go on to do important work in the world.
Join us as we animate the genre of autobiography as a radical act of discovery, liberation, and visionary agency and urgency. Whether you are just beginning your creative nonfiction project or have been working on it for decades, you can expect to:
· Craft between ten and twelve new pieces of work
· Embrace effective writing strategies and techniques to craft compelling and impactful work
· Identify and clarify what your larger project is about
· Cultivate a commitment to your project and creative process
· Become familiar with contemporary theories regarding creative nonfiction
· Develop a curated list of strategies and resources to support your writing goals
We are bringing everything we’ve got to this course, y’all!
Join us and unlock the power of your own story.
We would love to write with you!
Here’s how it works:
Testimonials
Schedule—at a glance. . .
We hope you’ll join us!
About Selah Saterstrom
Swamps, bayous, slews. Kudzu, humidity, and the Mississippi River. Graveyards, kitchen tables, back alleyways, dumps, and front porches. Coastal marshes and pine savannas. Water moccasin, copperhead, cottonmouth. Black widows—I was born and raised in the rural deep South, a dense, storm-haunted, gorgeous, and deeply troubled place. The spirit of this landscape animates my writing. I know these creative writing techniques work, because I’ve seen them work with students from all over the world. As the author of five books and a creative writing educator with twenty-five years of experience, I’ve taught in universities, colleges, and in a diverse array of community settings—including teaching for 18 years in a top-ranked creative writing PhD program, seven of which I served as the Director of Creative Writing. During my time, I’ve had the joyful privilege of helping hundreds of folx manifest their most pressing work. I would love to write with you!
About Kristen E. Nelson
Kristen E. Nelson is a queer writer and performer, diviner, teacher, and community builder. Kristen has been studying divination for 28 years and has been working with clients for over 20 years. Her specialties are tarot card readings and prescriptive magic solutions for crossed conditions. She reads primarily from Daughters of the Moon tarot, a feminist interpretation of the Rider Smith Waite deck. Kristen is the author of the length of this gap (Damaged Goods, August 2018) and two chapbooks: sometimes I gets lost and is grateful for noises in the dark (Dancing Girl, 2017) and Write, Dad (Unthinkable Creatures, 2012). She lives in Santa Cruz, California and is pursuing a PhD in Creative/Critical Writing at UCSC.
Photo by Julius Schlosburg
