Writing Workshops

Literary Truth: How to Write Immersive Nonfiction with Courtney Zoffness

$150

2 Sessions

In stock

Saturday & Sunday 12:00 pm EDT - 3:00 pm EDT October 21 to October 22, 2023

Online via Zoom

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How can you make a personal story propulsive? Dynamic? Deeply felt?

This workshop will examine craft techniques essential to fiction writing—dramatic tension, salient details, characterization, setting—and show how they can strengthen and enrich narrative nonfiction. We will also discuss the ethics, pitfalls, and practicalities of publishing creative nonfiction. All levels welcome.

Capacity: 20

Led by

Courtney Zoffness

Courtney Zoffness

Courtney Zoffness is the author of the critically acclaimed memoir-in-essays Spilt Milk, named a best debut of 2021 by BookPage and Refinery29 and a “must-read” by Publishers Weekly. She won the Sunday Times Short Story Award and received fellowships from The Center for Fiction and MacDowell. Her writing has appeared in the Paris Review Daily, the New York Times, Guernica, the Believer, and other venues. She’s an Associate Professor of English at Drew University, where she directs the creative writing program. You can keep up with Courtney on Instagram at @czoffness, and Twitter at @czoffrun.

By Courtney Zoffness

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Spilt Milk

By Courtney Zoffness

Published by McSweeney's Publishing

PURCHASE

What role does a mother play in raising thoughtful, generous children? In her literary debut, internationally award-winning writer Courtney Zoffness considers what we inherit from generations past—biologically, culturally, spiritually—and what we pass on to our children.

Spilt Milk is an intimate, bracing, and beautiful exploration of vulnerability and culpability. Zoffness relives her childhood anxiety disorder as she witnesses it manifest in her firstborn; endures brazen sexual advances by a student in her class; grapples with the implications of her young son’s cop obsession; and challenges her Jewish faith. Where is the line between privacy and secrecy? How do the stories we tell inform who we become? These powerful, dynamic essays herald a vital new voice.

About this series

Writing Workshops

We strive to make our classes the most inviting and rewarding available, offering an intimate environment to study with award-winning, world-class writers. Each class is specially designed by the instructor, so whether you’re a fledgling writer or an MFA graduate polishing your novel, you’ll find a perfect fit here.

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