The Memoirist’s Toolbox Class Package
February 5, 2025 - May 14, 2025
$177.00 – $357.00
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This Event is for Members only.
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$177 for Members
$357 for Non-Members
Learn the tools to help you finally start your memoir and develop the unique craft tools of the genre that will help you complete your first draft.
This class package aims to equip writers with the tools to begin and enrich their memoir project over the course of this season. From learning how to generate material and find your structure, to transforming memories into narrative, and clarifying yourself as a character, you’ll learn all the essential craft components needed to write your story.
The classes are spaced throughout the season, so that students will have time to work through and implement the takeaways before moving on to the next step of the memoir writing process. Each class is led by an accomplished memoirist passionate about the form.
In addition, everyone who purchases the package will be invited to an exclusive class package meet-up on Wednesday, February 5, from 5:30-6:30 PM CST, a great opportunity to connect with fellow writers as you enjoy this shared experience.
Can’t make it to every class? No worries! All who register will have access to the class recordings until July 31, 2025.
Click on each individual title to view additional class details or to purchase a class independent of the package.
“Memoir 101: Everything You Need to Know to (Finally) Start Your Memoir” with Jessica Wilbanks
Wednesday, February 5, 2025, 6:30 PM to 9:30 PM CDT
As you begin your memoir, this class will provide strategies for generating material and finding structure.
The most haunting memoirs aren’t just autobiographies. Instead, they pivot on a subject that mystifies and confounds the writer, about which they cannot quite make up their mind.
In this class, you’ll begin to mine your life for material and work through a series of generative prompts designed to turn rich, messy fragments into surprising and powerful prose. We’ll steal liberally from the sensory world of poetry, the narrative world of fiction, and the fact-driven world of journalism, even as we plumb the depths of interior life. Along the way, you’ll learn how to build a strong narrative arc, write vivid scenes, and prioritize the details and images that make prose come alive.
All levels of experience are welcome, but this course will be particularly helpful for writers who are in the earliest stages of a memoir project.
“Memory or Myth: Making Your Memoir Memorable” with Deborah D.E.E.P Mouton
Wednesday, March 26, 2025, 6:30 PM to 9:30 PM CST
A memory is different every time you look at it.
When it comes to writing from memory, many memoirists struggle to go beyond the narratives they’ve heard from loved ones all their lives. In this three-hour class, former Poet Laureate, Deborah D.E.E.P Mouton, will guide participants through a generative workshop that teaches new and exciting entry points into memoir that will help you create a more powerful and dynamic narrative. If you are in need of a new way to approach your work or stuck in the middle of a memoir project, this course is for you.
“Self-Representation in Memoir: Tools to Create Yourself” with Madeline Vosch
Wednesday, May 14, 2025, 6:30 PM to 9:30 PM CST
This class will examine how, as memoirists, we are both a voice and a character within the text.
As we cannot include every tiny detail about ourselves in our memoirs, we give our readers a snapshot of who we are, making ourselves into a character on the page. We get to choose which parts of ourselves are included in the narrative, and these details change who we are in the text. In this class, we will look at examples of memoir and auto-fiction, asking how the texts differ in self-representation. We will discuss how we construct ourselves in the stories that we tell, think through questions of self-representation, and practice writing ourselves as characters.
This class will include break out rooms, writing exercises, and class discussions.
Instructors
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Jessica Wilbanks is the author of When I Spoke in Tongues, a memoir about faith and its loss. She has received a Pushcart Prize as well as creative nonfiction awards from Ninth Letter, Sycamore Review, Redivider, and Ruminate magazine. Her essays have received Notable Mentions in Best American Essays and Best American Nonrequired Reading, and she was selected as a finalist for the PEN Annual Literary Award in Journalism. Jessica received her MFA in creative nonfiction from the University of Houston, where she served as nonfiction editor for Gulf Coast. She lives in Houston and is currently working on a novel. -
Deborah D.E.E.P Mouton is a multi-modal storyteller whose work documents, examines, and celebrates the complexities of Black American life. She has authored Newsworthy (Bloomsday Literary, 2019), Black Chameleon (Henry Holt & Co., 2023), which won the Carr P. Collins award for Best Nonfiction through the Texas Institute of Letters, and Hush Hush Hurricane (Kokila Books, 2027). This three-time TEDx speaker has contributed to Glamour, Texas Monthly, and ESPN's Andscape and written theatrical works that have premiered at Chicago Opera Theater, the Kennedy Center, and National Sawdust. Her upcoming immersive art installation, The Call Me Mother Experience, amplifies the Black Maternal Health crisis. -
Madeline Vosch is a writer, translator, and professor. Her first book, Undead: A Memoir, is forthcoming in April 2026, from Beacon Press. Her work has been published in Ploughshares, The Washington Post, and The Rumpus, among others. She holds an MTS from Harvard University and an MFA from the University of Alabama. She contributed translations to the poetry collection, The Scar We Know. She is a Fulbright grant recipient. She was awarded the Ploughshares Emerging Writer Award for Nonfiction, was an Aspen Words Emerging Writer Fellow, and is an alum of the Tin House Summer Workshop.
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Class & Event Registration Policy
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Anti-Harassment Policy
The Writers’ League of Texas is dedicated to providing harassment-free spaces for everyone, regardless of gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, race, age, or religion. We do not tolerate harassment in any form. Violating these rules may result in expulsion from WLT programs without a refund at the discretion of the WLT staff.
Harassment includes, but is not limited to:
- Comments that reinforce social structures of domination (related to gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, race, age, or religion);
- Sexual images not appropriate for the specific subject of the public discussion;
- Deliberate intimidation or stalking;
- Harassing photography or recording;
- Sustained disruption of discussions or other events;
- Unwelcome sexual attention;
- Advocating for, or encouraging, any of the above behavior.
Enforcement
Participants asked to stop any harassing behavior are expected to comply immediately. If a participant engages in harassing behavior, event organizers retain the right to take any actions to keep the event a welcoming environment for all participants. This includes warning the offender or expulsion from the event with no refund. Event organizers may take action to redress anything designed to, or with the clear impact of, disrupting the event or making the environment hostile for any participants. We expect participants to follow these rules during all events and event-related social activities.
Reporting
If someone makes you or anyone else feel unsafe or unwelcome, please report it as soon as possible. Reports can also be made via email at wlt@writersleague.org. We’ll handle any and all reports as respectfully as possible. You won’t be asked to confront anyone, and we won’t tell anyone who you are.
Accessibility Policy
Closed captioning is available for all online classes and special events.
The WLT is committed to making its programs & services accessible to all writers. Please contact us at wlt@writersleague.org or at 512-499-8914 for more information or to discuss accommodations you may need.
Credit Card Transaction Handling Fee Policy
All credit card transactions will incur a 4% handling fee. If you’d prefer to pay by check for membership, a class, or an event, you can use the provided forms on the membership or event pages and mail to: WLT, P.O. Box 14355, Austin, TX, 78704.
Writers’ League of Texas classes and workshops are also funded in part by the Texas Commission on the Arts – Investing in a Creative Texas. For more information, go to www.arts.texas.gov.