The Art of Memoir
This class will have two components: The first is writing personal stories based on prompts (e.g. decisions that have changed your life, your first love, what brings you joy). Each week you'll have a new writing prompt which you can read out loud the following week. As a general guide, your piece need not be more than 300 words or 1-page double spaced.
The second component is reading a published memoir of your choice. You can select from the list on the course description or propose one of your own. The only rule is that it's written in 1st person and is true. Presentations will include background on your selected author and EXCERPTS from their memoir. Both will be provided to the class in advance.
Personal writing will be shared at the beginning of each session, before engaging in the formal memoir discussion. No writing experience necessary, just an interest in learning how the stories of our lives can be transformed into the art of memoir.
Outline for 14 Week Class
Week 1 Assignment Due
Discussion of Karr's The Art of Memoir Read Karr's: The Art of Memoir (selected chapters)
Weeks 2-13
Share personal writing and participate Write to the prompt and read assigned
in discussion of selected memoirs excepts from selected memoir
Week 14
Summarize and share insights about what Share personal writing
makes a good memoir
Sample Writing Prompts:
1. What is your earliest memory of home (sounds, smells, people)?
2. Who was your childhood friend, mentor, or family member that influenced you the most?
3. What was your very first job, and how did it shape your view of life?
4. What moment in your career gave you the deepest sense of purpose?
5. What decision or choice did you make, that changed your life?
6. What community or neighborhood made you feel most at home?
7. Write the story of how you met a significant partner, friend or mentor.
8. Describe a difficult period in your life and how you got through it.
9. Write about a journey or trip that opened your eyes to something new.
10. What historical event do you most vividly remember living through?
11. What is the most valuable lesson you've learned about love or friendship?
12. If you had children (or mentored others) what moments stand out the most?
13. What brings you the greatest joy at this stage of life?
14. When do you feel most at peace? Describe it in detail.
Suggested Memoirs:
Educated: A Memoir, Tara Westover, 2022
Heavy: An American Memoir, Kiese Laymon, 2019
107 Days, Kamala Harris (with Geraldine Brooks), 2025
Dime Store: A Writer's Life, 2017
The Year of Magical Thinking, Joan Didion, 2005
About Alice. Calvin Trillin. 2006
All the Way to the Tigers: A memoir. Mary Morris, 2020
An Unquiet Mind, Kay Redfield Jamison, 1995
Conundrum, Jan Morris, 2006
The Audacity of Hope, Barack Obama, 2006
Patrimony, Phillip Roth, 1991
A Field Guide to Getting Lost. Rebecca Solnit, 2006
Brother, I'm Dying. Edwidge Danticat, 2008
The Liars' Club, by Mary Karr, 1995
Required Reading: The Art of Memoir, by Mary Karr, 2016
Recommended Reading:
Bird by Bird, by Ann Lamott, 2019
How to Tell Your Own Story, James Hagerty, July 2025
How to Write a Memoir: Examples and a Step-by-Step Guide, Zinig Mok, August 2025
The Transformative Power of Memoir Writing, by Dena Kouremetis, January 2024