Explore the Art & Craft of Memoir and Get Extensive Feedback on Your Writing
You are invited to participate in a four week workshop with acclaimed author Prince Shakur.
During the course, you'll learn how to write a memoir that connects deeply with readers, meets the needs of publishers, and aligns with your personal values. The course will help you focus on what matters most.
This course is designed for authors who are working on a draft of a memoir, or who have an idea they're ready to work on. If you have a complete draft, the course is only appropriate if you're ready to make revisions.
During this course, Prince Shakur will give you personalized feedback on your work, share in-depth lessons on the art of memoir, and introduce the class to an established literary agent.
Here's some of what you'll learn during the course:
- How to structure your memoir so you can tell your story in the most impactful way possible
- How to identify the themes that bring your story to life, and make it resonate with readers and publishers
- How to write scenes in your life so they live and breathe on the page
- How to define your memoir's goals and purpose, so you can focus on what matters most to you
- The surprising ways research can add depth and impact to your story
- Tools and strategies for implementing research
- How to use your memoir to boost your writing career
During the course, you'll also study craft and research strategies from contemporary authors. Aided by this studying, you’ll explore your own personal themes and interests, so you can focus your story for maximum impact, while keeping in mind the needs and expectations of contemporary readers and publishers.
Prince’s debut memoir When They Tell You to Be Good was published by Tin House Books, and widely praised in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Time Magazine, and many other places.
He is a successfully published author, professor, and writing teacher who cares about connecting with students and helping them grow as writers.
Prince is offering extensive feedback on student writing, as a core part of this course. Each week you will have the opportunity to submit work for feedback from Prince. He will give you feedback on various aspects of the writing and planning process, including your proposed narrative arc, artist statement, key scenes, as well as detailed feedback on up to 10 full pages of your story.
The course starts on Monday, January 15th and ends on Friday, February 9th, 2024. For those who need extra time, you will have a full six months to submit your work for feedback. You will also be welcome to attend office hours after the course is officially over, so you can stay part of our community. (At no additional cost.)
Because of the extensive personal feedback in this course, enrollment is strictly limited to 22 students. Once the course fills, we will immediately close enrollment.
Meet with Literary Agent Kayla Lightner
Kayla Lightner, of Ayesha Pande Literary, will be meeting with the class to discuss the process of finding the right agent, working with an agent, and landing a publication deal.
Kayla has recently sold memoir to major publishers, including Hachette and HarperCollins.
Ayehsa Pande Literary is a renouned literary agency, specializing in representing nonfiction and memoir.
This is a unique chance to learn directly from a successful literary agent at a top agency.
Kayla will be visiting the class on Friday, January 26th at 2pm ET. The meeting will be recorded for those who can't make it. You are also welcome to send your questions in ahead of time.
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A Four Week Workshop on the Art & Craft of Writing Your Memoir
Explore the art of writing memoir and get extensive feedback on your writing – all with support from a successful author and instructor.
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Four weeks of in-depth lessons on the art and craft of writing the memoir
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Detailed feedback on your writing from Prince Shakur.
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Personal guidance on the process of writing, researching, and crafting your memoir.
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Access to live office hours with all of our instructors, even after the course has finished. (At no additional cost.)
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Full access to our private community of writers, so you can network with your fellow students.
About Prince Shakur
Prince Shakur is the author of the critically acclaimed memoir When They Tell You to Be Good, published by Tin House Books. The memoir was called "magnetic" by TIME, and reviewed in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and many other places.
Prince's work has appeared in Teen Vogue, Vice, Outside Magazine, and the anthology It Came From Our Closet, among many other places. Shakur has also been awarded residencies as La Maison Baldwin and Norton Island, and is a winner of the Hurston/Wright Crossover Award.
Workshop Schedule
The course starts on Monday, January 15th and ends on Friday, February 9th, 2024. The course comes with daily lessons you can study on your own time, and interaction with Prince Shakur. Everything is provided online, through the digital learning platform hosted by Thinkific.
Note that you will have up to six months after the course finishes to submit your writing for feedback. Also note that you will have access to office hours even after the course is complete.
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Daily lessons, available to study any time on our online learning platform, hosted by Thinkific.
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Personal feedback on every lesson via email, our online discussion platform, or our private Facebook Group.
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Weekly opportunities to submit your work for detailed feedback from the instructor.
Enroll Now
Enrollment is strictly limited to 22 students.
The early bird tuition is available until Monday, January 1st.
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$597.00
Full Tuition
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2 x $248.50
Early Bird Payment Plan
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$497.00
Early Bird Tuition
Here's What Our Students Have to Say
Prince Shakur is wonderful!
Joanna Grace Farmer
I didn't know what to expect from the memoir course with Prince Shakur and feel blessed that he gave of his time, attention, and energy to make the course work. He provided detailed feedback that's helping me understand not just why I need to writ...
Read MoreI didn't know what to expect from the memoir course with Prince Shakur and feel blessed that he gave of his time, attention, and energy to make the course work. He provided detailed feedback that's helping me understand not just why I need to write my story, but also how. He gave generously of his expertise and I witnessed him do the same with other students. Prince is wonderful and I highly rate him for continued courses. He's of great benefit to Authors Publish.
Read LessFinding a new lens
Sharon Pearce-McLeay
Prince was a pleasure to work with. I have been studying and writing memoir for years. I wasn't expecting anything different than previous training. My expectations were wrong. Prince took us on a journey from our inner workings and thoughts to ou...
Read MorePrince was a pleasure to work with. I have been studying and writing memoir for years. I wasn't expecting anything different than previous training. My expectations were wrong. Prince took us on a journey from our inner workings and thoughts to our responsibility as artists. He helped draw me out of a perspective I'd been stuck on for years and look at my experience through the lens of societal trends and events. I was able to find new ways to build scenes and put a memoir together thanks to Prince.
Read LessTotally appropriate, and exactly what I needed.
Dee Knight
I loved this course. I only wish it could be longer. Every selection was interesting. The writing exercises were provocative and enjoyable. The feedback on my essay submissions were good and useful. I want more!! (That's because the essays I submi...
Read MoreI loved this course. I only wish it could be longer. Every selection was interesting. The writing exercises were provocative and enjoyable. The feedback on my essay submissions were good and useful. I want more!! (That's because the essays I submitted were early chapters of a book manuscript that is under review by a publisher. So any additional help could be very helpful to me.) While Marin's general concept of "the personal essay" doesn't always fit what I'm trying to do, everything she taught was useful to me, and very interesting. It there's a sequel, I would like to sign up!
Read LessInspiring and Instructive
Susan Cohen
Marin Sardy provides excellent examples and instruction on different essay writing techniques while encouraging writers to share their challenges and fears. Her feedback is tactful and clear, with a keen intuition on where a writer wants to go a...
Read MoreMarin Sardy provides excellent examples and instruction on different essay writing techniques while encouraging writers to share their challenges and fears. Her feedback is tactful and clear, with a keen intuition on where a writer wants to go and how to get there. Great class, highly recommended.
Read LessHighly Recommend This Fantastic Workshop!
Dana Kinsey
Marin is a gifted and caring teacher, supplying exactly the right feedback to assist in revision. Her honesty was refreshing and her insight was valuable. I never take courses to learn what I'm doing right; I take them to learn the opposite. Th...
Read MoreMarin is a gifted and caring teacher, supplying exactly the right feedback to assist in revision. Her honesty was refreshing and her insight was valuable. I never take courses to learn what I'm doing right; I take them to learn the opposite. The pieces she chose as anchors inspired me to reach beyond my current style and really take some risks in terms of content and form. Her suggestions for publishers also proved super helpful. I could say much more, but I think it could be most telling to simply post a link (https://www.prose.onl/read/dana-kinsey) to the first piece I wrote with Marin that was actually published today, one week after the course ended. Without this workshop and Marin's expertise, it would not exist.
Read LessExcellent Introduction to Different Types of Personal Essays
Mary Atkinson
Marin Sardy's Personal Essay Workshop covered so much in a short time. She provided great examples of different ways to approach personal essays along with her insightful comments about them. I especially appreciated her emphasis on each writer's ...
Read MoreMarin Sardy's Personal Essay Workshop covered so much in a short time. She provided great examples of different ways to approach personal essays along with her insightful comments about them. I especially appreciated her emphasis on each writer's personal process. We write to discover what we want to say and why and then dig deeper in revision. She is truly knowledgeable and passionate about the personal essay. I highly recommend her course!
Read LessThe Personal Essay with Marin Sardy
Isa De Quesada
Excellent...when I started I had no idea how to begin an essay and get it published. This course gave me the tools necessary to funnel my writing into an essay form. The structure of the course was incredibly helpful in organizing myself and my wr...
Read MoreExcellent...when I started I had no idea how to begin an essay and get it published. This course gave me the tools necessary to funnel my writing into an essay form. The structure of the course was incredibly helpful in organizing myself and my writing. I would love to take a level 2 Personal Essay Workshop with Marin.
Read LessExcellent workshop
anneke campbell
Marin Sardy's Personal Essay Workshop has been powerful, educational and fun. The workshop is very well organized in bite sized pieces with the right balance of reading, writing and exchange. I particularly appreciate her clarity and the fact that...
Read MoreMarin Sardy's Personal Essay Workshop has been powerful, educational and fun. The workshop is very well organized in bite sized pieces with the right balance of reading, writing and exchange. I particularly appreciate her clarity and the fact that we have a half year to complete the work and get feedback. Highly recommended.
Read LessMarin Sardy's Personal Essay Class
Linda Luther-Starbird
I very much enjoyed this class, and I learned that I liked personal essay much more than I had anticipated. This morning I read a review about using personal essay in memoir, which made it all the more interesting. Marin is a very good teacher. Sh...
Read MoreI very much enjoyed this class, and I learned that I liked personal essay much more than I had anticipated. This morning I read a review about using personal essay in memoir, which made it all the more interesting. Marin is a very good teacher. She was highly organized, had very useful readings and references for us, and her feedback/critique on my homework assignments was very helpful. I would recommend this class to anyone desiring to learn a new form, or to those already interested in personal essay.
Read LessFAQ
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What is the course schedule?
The course starts on Monday, January 15th and Friday, February 9th, 2024.
Each week, we will release five lessons that you can study on your own time. These will be a mix of text-based lessons, recommended essays, and pre-recorded lectures. Each lesson comes with text-based discussion with the instructor and the class.
At the end of each week, you will have the opportunity to submit an assignment to Prince Shakur for in-depth feedback. Prince will then email you the feedback, and you are welcome to ask as many follow up questions as needed.
There will also be two office hour sessions held via Zoom, which will be recorded for those who cannot attend live. They have not yet been scheduled.
Note, that if you fall behind on the course, you will have a full six months to complete the course and submit your work for feedback from the instructor.
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How much time will the course require?
Overall, expect to spend around 30 minutes a day on the course. Some days will require less work, some days will require more.
Lessons are released weekly, which gives you flexibility. Based on our experience with other courses, some students do the bulk of their work in one or two days each week, while others spend a little bit of time each day on our courses.
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How many students will be allowed to enroll?
Because of the personal feedback Prince is providing, the workshop is strictly limited to 22 students. Once we reach that number we will immediately close enrollment.