Through a series of fun directed writing exercises, we will explore the terrain of creative non-fiction (no five-paragraph essays here!): mining for material, constructing characters and settings, shaping vivid dialogue, understanding point of view, exploring the many forms of non-fiction today, and finding your voice. We will discuss the process of writing and the strengths and weaknesses of the work we produce in the session. We will read and discuss excerpts of some short published non-fiction pieces with an eye toward craft, then write exercises inspired by the texts. A supportive and generative experience for both new and practicing writers.

Jennifer De Leon is the editor of Wise Latinas: Writers on Higher Education (University of Nebraska Press, 2014). Her work has appeared in Ploughshares, Ms., Brevity, Poets & Writers, Best Women’s Travel Writing 2010, and elsewhere. Her essay, “The White Space,” originally selected as first place recipient of the Michael Steinberg Essay Prize and published in Fourth Genre, was listed as notable in Best American Essays 2013. She teaches at the Grub Street Creative Writing Center and for Boston Public Schools. To learn more about her work, visit: http://www.jenniferdeleonauthor.com/.