I just read about this class on the MFA Weblog and had to mention it to anyone in the San Francisco Bay area…I’ve never had Stephen Elliott as a teacher, but his book Happy Baby is one of the most memorable (and darkest) books I’ve ever read. I would love the opportunity to have a class with him! Much of his work is based on his experiences growing up in the foster care system in Chicago, so this class topic seems especially apt. (And a bargain price, for sure.)
WRITING FROM EXPERIENCE
Instructor: Stephen Elliott
Contact: tribe@stephenelliott.com
More info: http://sfgrotto.org/classes.html
Number of sessions: 1
Meeting times: Thursday, January 17, 2008; 6 to 8 pm
Course fee: $45
Description:
Your experiences, and how you process them, are what make you unique as an individual. They're also the most valuable things we can offer readers. We'll talk about writing from experience in fiction and non-fiction, and how to use our lives as jumping off points and framing devices for the stories we tell about others. We'll also talk about the dangers of writing from experience and overcoming the blocks set in place (often unnecessarily) by our fears of exposure. We'll look at strategies for getting past those fears and for dealing with friends and relatives whose memories might be different from our own. Finally, we'll focus on unlocking our lives and the joy and value of integrating the worlds we know with the worlds we create.
Enrollment/Payment:
This is a one-time seminar with limited enrollment. To reserve your space please send a check in the amount of the course fee (made out to Stephen Elliott) to Stephen Elliot, c/o SF Writers Grotto, 490 Second Street, Ste. 200, San Francisco, CA, 94107, or pay online with paypal to the email address tribe@stephenelliott.com.
Instructor bio:
Stephen Elliott is the author of four novels including Happy Baby, which was a best book of the year in Salon, The Village Voice, Newsday, The Journal Gazzette, and Chicago New City as well as a finalist for the New York Public Library Young Lion's Award and a California Book Award. He is also the author of a book of erotica, a non-fiction memoir of the 2004 presidential campaign, and the editor of three acclaimed anthologies. He was a Stanford University Stegner Fellow. His fiction and non-fiction has been published in The New York Times, Esquire, GQ, McSweeney's, Tin House, The Sun, and many anthologies.
