Memoir Intensive with Alan Close

Do you want to write a memoir? Join professional writer and memoirist Alan Close for an in-depth, eight-week intensive that will guide your story from conception to publication.

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The Memoir Intensive is an 8-week course for writers working on a book-length memoir. The course will benefit writers at all stages of the writing process. Some will be writing already, others will come with an idea and intention.

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Based around practical writing exercises and receiving constructive feedback in a supportive environment, this intensive will cover all aspects of writing memoir—from understanding and narrowing down the story you need to tell, to providing insight into tools and techniques to help make your story come alive on the page.

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We will also address the all-important ethical and practical questions we encounter as we try to write honestly about our lives without hurting those close to us.

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In this workshop you will:

• Identify the questions that lie at the heart of your memoir—learn to let them guide you and watch them evolve.
• Explore how to connect the dots between the big events of your story.
• Address ethical concerns that can arise when writing memoir—discover how to maintain fairness, honesty and authenticity while writing honestly about your life.
• Learn more about the drafting process and how to approach publication.

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Who is it for?

Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced.

This course will benefit book-length memoir writers at all stages of their writing process. Some will be close to their final draft and some will arrive with simply an idea and intention.

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Where: Byron Writers Festival Office, 58 Centennial Circuit Byron Bay 2481

When: 8 x 2 hour meetings (6pm - 8pm)

             Term 1 | 2 Sept, 9 Sept, 16 Sept, 23 Sept

             Term 2 | 10 Nov, 17 Nov, 24 Nov, 1 Dec

Cost: $1,100 General | $780 Festival Friend Member (join here)

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About Alan Close:

Over a writing career of more than four decades, Alan has published fiction, poetry and creative non-fiction and written widely in the national print media, including as a columnist in Good Weekend magazine. He edited the anthology Men Love Sex, which remains a benchmark of men writing about love, sex and relationships. His own memoir is Before You Met Me: A Memoir Of One Man’s Troubled Search For Love. For many years Alan has been a mentor, teacher and editor to other writers, especially those writing memoir. He lives in Mullumbimby with his partner Sarah Armstrong and their teenage daughter.