Life Writing: Memoir and Biography 2020

Writing memoir involves a balance between capturing your own memories on the page and writing biographical accounts of the people, including the ancestors, who have left an imprint on your life.

WHEN: 5 X sessions, Monday 7 - Friday 11 September, 9:30am - 1pm
WHERE: The University of Auckland, City Campus

Course outline
Writing memoir involves an intricate interplay between writing down and preserving your own memories and constructing biographical accounts of the people, including the ancestors, who have left an imprint on your life. On this course, you will receive tuition on the fundamentals of writing memoir and biography and its ethical implications along with techniques that will assist you to write with flair and originality about the key figures, both living and from the past, who have influenced and helped shape your life. It is suitable for participants who have not yet completed Life Writing 1.

Session one: Arriving here – the importance of preserving my story and the family history.

• An introduction to the joys of writing memoir and biography
• Writing exercise 1: arriving here and establishing intent
• Writing exercise 2: My life and the ancestors. Who were they? How did I love them?

Session two: Writing biography

• Establishing intention and audience
• research skills and how to organise archival material
• What biographical sources do I have at my fingertips: letters, journals, personal accounts, photographs
• how much do I write?
• how do I integrate the family stories into my memoir narrative
• what are my responsibilities as biographer intent on preserving their truths?
• An editing workshop.
• Writing exercise 1: My research aspirations
• Writing exercise 2: A brief biographical introduction to…

Session three: The gentle art of oral history and life review

• Where do I begin to tell the story of your life?
• A workshop on conducting oral history to discover the shape of a person’s life
• Practical exercise: recording your story
• Writing exercise: Considering the life story arc.

Session four: The ethical implications of writing about friends, family, lovers and loved ones

• Writing exercise: How do I balance my need to express my truths with a commitment to writing compassionately about the people who figure in my story: what are the ethical implications of writing a biography?
• An individual mentoring session with Deborah

Session five: Publication and celebration

• Preserving the ongoing work: how to maintain focus, enthusiasm and a long-term commitment to the writing project.
• Writing exercise: Reflecting on my story and their story and how they intertwine.

Who should attend?

• People who have completed Deborah’s Life Writing or memoir courses.
• New writers interested in discovering their writing voice through writing about themselves and the people who frame their life.
• Writers already engaged on a life story project who are wishing to deepen and revive their writing content.

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