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Personal Essay Clinic: Writing About Family

Workshop your first person piece with a published personal essay writer

Personal Essay Clinic: Writing About Family
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WHEN 4 hours, Monday, February 9, 6:30-10:30 pm

WHERE New York (Midtown East)

LEVEL Intermediate

PRICE
$150 ($125 for )
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Course Details

We all have strong feelings about our families, no matter how old we are. What better way to get to the root of those feelings -- and to the root of who we are -- than by writing about the people who know us most intimately?

Workshop that essay about your mother you've always been meaning to write (but would never want her to see), or recapture the relationship you used to have with your brother, or explore how you've managed to recreate one of these earlier family relationships in your grown-up life. In addition to a close critique of each essay, students will learn how to deal with the problems inherent in writing about relatives and those we love, and discuss the basics of pitching and publishing personal essays so they can find the right venue for their work.

In this small class -- limited to 12 students  -- your piece and your pitch letter will be critiqued by the class and the instructor. You will also get recommendations of venues for which the work is suitable. You'll learn how to edit yourself, what your work is missing, and where your essay would fit perfectly for publication.

Admission Requirements:
Please submit a brief letter of interest (including a brief work history) as well as a writing sample (less than 1,000 words).

Related Courses

Tell me when courses like this are scheduled.
• From Essay to Memoir – New York (Class starts March 19)
• Personal Essay Boot Camp – New York (Class starts January 15)

Instructor Bio

Helaine Olen's Courses

Helaine Olen
Helaine Olen's essays, reviews, and articles have been featured in The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, Salon.com, AlterNet.org, and numerous other print and online publications. Her contribution to The New York Times' Modern Love column The New Nanny Diaries are Online is one of the most controversial and widely discussed essays in the series. She co-wrote Office Mate: The Employee Handbook for Finding and Managing Romance on the Job which was dubbed "The Rules for the office" by The New York Times. Her contribution to the recently published anthology The Maternal Is Political was cited by Publishers Weekly in their review of the book. You can view more details at her website, www.helaineolen.com.

Testimonials


Helaine was generous with advice and anecdotes, and she offered valuable information. Her take on different kinds of forums for writing was intelligent, and her advice to participants on specific works and submissions made me wish for a longer workshop . -- M-J Haronian

"I would like to thank Helaine so much for her help. I learned an enormous amount from the class, which has given me the confidence to pursue freelance work." -- Pauline Pechin
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