Facilitator of What If We Blurred Genre In This Speculative Nonfiction Class?

Hosted by Corporeal Writing, held over four Wednesdays beginning October 22nd via Zoom from 4-6PM PST (10/22, 10/29, 11/5, 11/12) (All sessions will be recorded and recordings shared with registrants for a limited time afterwards.)

Sometimes the truth is too painful. Sometimes our access to facts has been erased by memory, by power. And sometimes “what if” can open a door to deeper vulnerability than “what happened” alone. In this generative writing class, we’ll explore how nonfiction writers bend genre to tell their true stories with a speculative slant. Together, we’ll dive into the beautifully blurry space between memory and imagination, examining how speculation can illuminate truths that remain obscured by pain, erasure, or silencing. We’ll study hybrid and creative nonfiction works from the likes of Saidiya Hartman, Jami Nakamura Lin, and Maxine Hong Kingston, and engage in playful but powerful writing exercises like imagining alternate timelines, writing the imagined self, and extended metaphors. You’ll leave with new tools to stretch form and conjure the unspeakable.