Overview

Memoir is not autobiography, which is intended to cover the whole life to date, but a short and significant stretch of a life—like a novel. 

In this course, we’ll explore how that focused slice of experience becomes story, and what makes memoir distinct from other forms of personal writing. 

It’s also different from “autofiction:” it takes its obligation to truth seriously and it’s almost always written in the first person. Memoirists employ a reliable or unreliable narrator to tell their stories. Why and how does a story become a memoir? Why do some books seem as if they had to be written as memoir, and couldn’t have worked in fictional form? What is the shape of a memoir, and what are its boundaries? And how does a memoir turn real people—including its narrator—into characters?

We’ll read some extraordinary essays and memoir beginnings, but classes will be focused on students’ writing, submitted in advance.

Students have praised Betsy Bonner’s approach: “Betsy Bonner is a wonderful teacher. She’s created a supportive environment to work on one’s memoir. Her comments and suggestions are most helpful.” This class offers a thoughtful, encouraging space to develop your work with clarity, depth, and insight.