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Relearning the Lyric Essay
$290
In this six week class, students will explore the lyric essay form and learn to appreciate what makes it one of the most imaginative and creative writing genres around.
Class Takeaways
We’ll discuss the key elements of a good lyric essay and what traditional forms we need to unlearn as writers before we enter this new world of wonderment.
Week 1 – What is the Lyric Essay?
Participants will be introduced to the concept of the lyric essay, its history, its scope, and what distinguishes it from other prose forms. As a related topic, we will consider the political uses of the lyric essay.
Week 2 – Braiding
This week, we will concentrate on the “braiding” technique, whereby different topics and/or narrated episodes can be woven together to create a richly textured essay.
Week 3 – Hermit Crab
This week, participants will be introduced to the “hermit crab” essay, in which the writer uses a pre-existing form as a structure for their material. Take workshop submissions for those interested.
Week 4 – Collage
Building on the work of the previous three weeks, we will look at lyric essays that use a range of different techniques and registers side by side to create a collage effect. Begin workshopping for those interested.
Week 5 – Notes, Margins, and Erasures
This week, we will look at lyric essays, which are responding to, commenting on, or subverting other texts through techniques such as annotation and erasure. A special guest writer will be visiting us to discuss her lyric essay and have a Q&A!
Week 6 – Final Week
This week, we will uncover even more of the lyric form to play with and examine how the lyric essay acts as a form of resistance.
Access Program
We want our writing classes and Delves to be accessible to everyone, regardless of income and background. We understand that our tuition structure can present obstacles for some people. Our Access Program offers writing class and Delve tuitions at a reduced rate.Most writing classes have at least one access spot available.
Please apply here for access rate tuition. Contact Susan Moore at susan@literary-arts.org if you have questions.
Class cancellation policy
If you register for a class and need to cancel before the class begins, here’s a link to our class cancellation policy.
