2025 Summer Writing Retreat - Memoir
Course: “A Deep Dive Into Memoir: The Stories We Retell & The Stories We Overlook”
Instructor: Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton
Class Assistant: Bianca Alyssa Pérez
Week One
Sunday, July 6
7:00-8:00 PM CDT / Orientation Session: Hear from your instructor and learn all about the month ahead!
Event recording (available until August 31, 2025)
Monday, July 7
6:30-9:30 PM CDT / Session One – Finding a Landing Place: Students will consider place as an impetus for discovery. Students will map their lives using artistic models to create a brainstorming sheet they can return to again and again. From this, they will draft their first narratives.
Event recording (available until August 31, 2025)
Tuesday, July 8
12:00-1:00 PM CDT / Lunchtime Craft Talk: “Atmosphere and Tone” with Andrew Porter: Take a mid-day break to learn how to create atmospheric writing and strike a particular tone in your work.
Event recording (available until August 31, 2025)
6:30-9:30 PM CDT / Write-in session: Join fellow SWR students for this virtual writing session. You’ll set intentions at the beginning, turn mics and cameras off for writing time, and then come back together at the end to share how the session went.
Wednesday, July 9
6:30-9:30 PM CDT / Write-in session: Join fellow SWR students for this virtual writing session. You’ll set intentions at the beginning, turn mics and cameras off for writing time, and then come back together at the end to share how the session went.
Thursday, July 10
6:30-9:30 PM CDT / Session Two – Connecting the Past and the Future: Students will examine how stories of their predecessors have shaped who they are today. By chronicling their stories, even if in myth, students will begin shaping the framework of their smaller narrative collections.
Event recording (available until August 31, 2025), Session 2 Readings
Saturday, July 12
10:00-11:30 AM CDT / Saturday Craft Seminar “Spring, Summer, Asteroid, Bird: The Art of Eastern Storytelling” with Henry Lien: Author and writing instructor Henry Lien will explore how storytelling staples in the West, such as the three-act structure and themes of empowerment and change, are far from universal. He will introduce the East Asian four-act structure (kishōtenketsu), as well as circular and nested structures, and explain how Eastern value systems such as collectivism can dictate story structures, using examples ranging from the film Parasite to The 1,001 Nights to the Mario video game franchise.
Event recording (available until August 31, 2025), Presentation Outline
Week Two
Monday, July 14
6:30-9:30 PM CDT / Write-in session: Join fellow SWR students for this virtual writing session. You’ll set intentions at the beginning, turn mics and cameras off for writing time, and then come back together at the end to share how the session went.
Tuesday, July 15
12:00-1:00 PM CDT / Lunchtime Craft Talk: “Finding Meaning Everywhere” with A. Kendra Green: Take a mid-day break to learn how to find meaning and inspiration in the world around you.
Event recording (available until August 31, 2025)
6:30-9:30 PM CDT / Write-in session: Join fellow SWR students for this virtual writing session. You’ll set intentions at the beginning, turn mics and cameras off for writing time, and then come back together at the end to share how the session went.
Wednesday, July 16
6:30-9:30 PM CDT / Write-in session: Join fellow SWR students for this virtual writing session. You’ll set intentions at the beginning, turn mics and cameras off for writing time, and then come back together at the end to share how the session went.
Thursday, July 17
7:00-8:30 PM CDT / WLT Third Thursday “Remixes & Reimaginings: Seeing Stories Anew” with Kalynn Bayron, Gabe Cole Novoa, and Vaishnavi Patel: For our July Third Thursday, join us for a conversation about why and how we adapt and reimagine popular fairytales, classics, and mythologies as writers.
Week Three
Monday, July 21
6:30-9:30 PM CDT / Session Three – The Present is Still Teaching: Students will examine “the today.” Both as a point of arrival and a springboard for what may be, the present allows students to connect to social moments, historic implications, and family ties. Students will craft narratives while examining form.
Event recording (available until August 31, 2025)
Tuesday, July 22
12:00-1:00 PM CDT / Lunchtime Craft Talk: “Writing Hybrid Forms” with Jasminne Mendez: Take a mid-day break to learn about the challenges and rewards of eschewing genre and writing hybrid forms.
Event recording (available until August 31, 2025), Presentation Slides
6:30-9:30 PM CDT / Write-in session: Join fellow SWR students for this virtual writing session. You’ll set intentions at the beginning, turn mics and cameras off for writing time, and then come back together at the end to share how the session went.
Wednesday, July 23
6:30-9:30 PM CDT / Write-in session: Join fellow SWR students for this virtual writing session. You’ll set intentions at the beginning, turn mics and cameras off for writing time, and then come back together at the end to share how the session went.
Thursday, July 24
7:00-8:00 PM CDT / Meet-up & Trivia Night: Test your literary knowledge and mix and mingle with fellow SWR writers.
Week Four
Monday, July 28
6:30-9:30 PM CDT / Session Four – Making Space for Resolve: Students will examine humor and joy as spaces to approach resolve for their readers. They will also finalize the order of their four-story collection.
Event recording (available until August 31, 2025)
Tuesday, July 29
6:30-9:30 PM CDT / Write-in session: Join fellow SWR students for this virtual writing session. You’ll set intentions at the beginning, turn mics and cameras off for writing time, and then come back together at the end to share how the session went.
Wednesday, July 30
6:30-9:30 PM CDT / Write-in session: Join fellow SWR students for this virtual writing session. You’ll set intentions at the beginning, turn mics and cameras off for writing time, and then come back together at the end to share how the session went.
Thursday, July 31
7:00-8:30 PM CDT / Student Reading Night: Select students will read from their works in progress to a warm and receptive audience of fellow Summer Writing Retreat writers and instructors, celebrating the culmination of a week full of craft and community.