Writing the Hardest Part: How Writers Bring Difficult Experience to the Page (Erin James)

Description:

Mondays, 9:30 AM to 1100 AM

“Let’s face it. We’re undone by each other. And if we’re not, we’re missing something.” Judith Butler, Precarious Life

Much has been written about the self-care that writers must practice if engaged in the art of transforming our most painful and difficult moments into story. This class will leave that up to our therapists, and focus instead on the justifications for doing so, and how to care for those on the receiving end of our stories. 

Rooted in Maggie Nelson’s theory of art as “a place where all elements—even extremities—of what it feels like to be human can be heard and find place,” we will explore the techniques used by various nonfiction writers to handle difficult content, and build a craft archive of trauma. 

We will explore the creative struggles of other writers and draw inspiration from what helped them put words to their experience. We will hold space for our own anxieties about writing the hardest part and engage in craft exercises meant to help us do so with care for and awareness of the self and the other. Writing will be generative, sharing will be optional, and a variety of prompts will be offered each week. Participants will leave with a framework for bringing their difficult experiences to the page.

*Those who have taken this course before are welcome, as some readings and materials will be different. 

About the Instructor:

Erin has taught English and Creative Writing for over a decade and received her MFA in Creative Writing from Antioch University in 2024. 

In addition to working with students at WriterHouse for the past ten years, she has been a judge for the Writer‘s Eye Creative Writing Contest hosted by the University of Virginia’s Fralin Museum of Art. She has also been a student and teacher-counselor at UVA’s Young Writers Workshop. She has attended two week-long workshops for Teachers as Writers at Bard College’s Institute for Writing and Thinking in 2014 and 2016 and received an author fellowship to attend the Martha’s Vineyard Institute for Creative Writing in 2021. Before she began teaching, she studied Journalism and English at New York University and received her undergraduate degree in English from the University of Virginia. In addition to writing, Erin loves reading, hiking, practicing and teaching yoga, cooking, being outside, traveling, and spending time with her sons Noah and Jacob, and friends.