The Makery: A Life Twice Lived: Healing Trauma through the Written Word

Name: The Makery: A Life Twice Lived: Healing Trauma through the Written Word
Start: 2024-10-12
End: 2024-10-26
Location: Virtual Class

Healing from trauma is an experience that can leave us withdrawing from the world. We despair. We want to give up. What can personal stories mean for trauma survivors? As Patricia Hampl says in an essay called “Memory and Imagination,” “to write one’s life is to live it twice, and the second living is both spiritual and historical.” In this session we will look at excerpts from works that have meant living live twice via an exploration of trauma in their work: Dorothy Allison. Sue William Silverman. Joy Harjo. These writers show us what it means to not surrender, both on the page and in their lives. As leader of this session, I promise honesty and an environment of trust to share all our stories. As well as discussing excerpts, we will write, share and contribute to authentic discussions. We will discuss how healing from trauma is an experience of both darkness and of great light.

Structure of Course: As nearly as possible, our online meetings will emulate a regular group gathering of participants for each of the three weeks of the course. Using the Zoom link provided, you will log in at 10:30 (or a bit earlier) on October 12-26. We will talk about assigned readings, we will share work based on prompts, and we will discuss writing and its various disciplines. Most importantly, we will have that all-important small community of other writers each week—all the while sitting in my study (at least virtually, that is!!). I will not lecture, per se, but will offer as much advice about published and in-progress work as I can. I will also meet with each of you one on one to talk about writing or drafts.

Prompts: Each week students will be given one or more prompts based on the readings we discuss in that session. All responses to the prompts should be a short piece of about two pages, and we will share some of these each week with the whole group. Students may choose one of these pieces to expand into a piece of at least four pages to turn in during the last session (you will send it as an attachment to all). We will workshop as many of these as we can during that last session, and I will also meet with you one on one to talk about this work-in-progress.

Responses: Last session, you will hand in one longer work. We will have time to workshop ONE of these with all of us. I will be giving all of you a handout about how I “workshop” work at hand. We can discuss how we might provide more feedback to all. I will also be available for one on one conferences about that piece for everyone.

Week One: Trauma, a gut level thing

Introductions

First prompt and free writing

A generous packet of work about trauma (in all genres): e.g., Sue Silverman; Jane Meade; Mary Karr; Jo Ann Beard.

Take-home prompt and reading for next week: from Janisse Ray, Wild Spectacle

Week Two: Trauma, the world out there

Share some prompts

Discuss Janisse Ray

Prompt and free write

Reading for next week: Meredith Hall, from Without a Map

Week Three: Trauma, a god of two faces

Share some prompts

Discuss work by Meredith Hall; excerpt from Ann Beattie, if time.

Prompt for longer assignment and free write

Longer, take-away assignment

I will be setting up one-on-one conferences with each of you.

Karen Salyer McElmurray is originally from Hagerhill, Kentucky. Her memoir, Surrendered Child: A Birth Mother’s Journey, was an AWP Award Winner for Creative Nonfiction. Her novels are The Motel of the Stars, Editor’s Pick by Oxford American, and Strange Birds in the Tree of Heaven, winner of the Chaffin Award for Appalachian Writing. Her nonfiction work has been a recipient of the Annie Dillard Award for Essay, the New Southerner Award, The Orison Anthology Award for Creative Nonfiction and, most recently, the LitSouth Award. She has co-edited, with poet Adrian Blevins, an essay collection called Walk till the Dogs Get Mean. Wanting Radiance, her newest novel is from University Press of Kentucky and Voice Lessons, a short collection of essays, is from Knoxville’s Iris Press. A new essay collection, I Could Name God in Twelve Ways, is forthcoming in Fall 2024 from University Press of Kentucky. She can be found all too often on Facebook and Instagram.

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days

hours

minutes

seconds

Date

Oct 12 - 26 2024

Time

10:30 am - 12:00 pm

Cost

$275.00

Location

Virtual Class

Organizer

Corey Terry

Email

corey@hindman.org