Overview

What makes for a compelling personal essay? According to literary critic and essayist Vivian Gornick, the author must know who they are at the point of telling the story. In other words, who is the speaker? The speaker is separate from who you are in the present. While you, the author, might have come to certain understandings about a moment in your life, the speaker is still searching for the answers. Gornick also distinguishes between "the situation" (the events) and "the story" (the emotional journey) that comprise the personal essay. Who is your speaker? What is their emotional journey in this specific essay? Through Gornick's lens, we will read a series of personal essays, as well as excerpts from memoirs and even reality fiction in order to better understand the relationship between these three essential components: speaker, situation, and story. 

Each class will be broken down as follows:

(10 mins) Review of key concepts from previous class

(30 mins) Discussion of assigned reading

(20 mins) Writing Exercise based on a craft element/technique inspired by assigned reading

(1.5 hour) Workshop - Each week, up to three students can submit their writing for detailed feedback from myself and the class. We will apply concepts from the class in our discussion of your work and provide actionable steps as well as line edits for revision. 

Assigned readings will include works by James Baldwin, Annie Ernaux, Gary Shteyngart, Akhil Sharma, Sheila Heti, and Jamaica Kincaid, among others.

This class meets on February 11, 18, 25, March 4, 11, 18, 25, April 15, 2026, 6:30-9pm. (skips April 1 and 8)