Writing Your Memoir: From Draft to Craft

with Emily Rich 

The Center for Extended & Lifelong Learning at Salisbury University and Ocean Pines Association have teamed up to bring SU to the Shore!

Join us for a Lighthouse Literary Guild six-week writing course offered by Emily Rich, Executive Editor of The Delmarva Review. Classes are offered on Thursdays, beginning Oct. 12 from 9 - 10:30 am. 

Having a great story is just the first step to writing a compelling piece of memoir. In this class, we will explore what takes a piece of personal writing “from draft to craft,” looking at elements such as character development, incorporating sensory detail, and writing in scenes. We will focus on the importance of taking a story that’s true and connecting it, as Cheryl Strayed says, “to the greater, grander truth.” In addition to workshopping each others’ writing, participants will read essays on craft and sample works of successful memoirists. When the course is over, participants will come away with an appreciation of what makes a piece of memoir stand out and appeal to an audience beyond themselves.

Emily Rich is the Editor of Delmarva Review. She writes mainly memoir and essay. Her work has been published in a number of small presses including Little Patuxent Review, r.kv.ry, Delmarva Review the Pinch and Hippocampus. Her essays have been listed as notables in Best American Essays 2014 and 2015. Her story "Black Market Pall Malls" won the Biostories 2015 War and Peace essay contest.