What is autoethnography? And biomythography? Is that even a thing?

In this two-part creative writing workshop, we will look to the incisive, imaginative, and transformative hybrid writing of Claudia Rankine, Sheila O’Connor, Gloria Anzaldua, Maggie Nelson, and Audre Lorde. After discussing craft and content of the assigned readings, we will do structured writing exercises that have you explore writing about self in relation to society and culture—and mixing poetry, memoir, and fiction to do so.

Readings (should be read before the class session)

 (6/24) Session 1: Excerpt from Citizen by Claudia Rankine and “Race, Reception, and Claudia Rankine’s ‘American Lyric’ by Evie Shockley

(7/1) Session 2: Excerpt from Evidence of V by Sheila O’Connor and “Biomythography: Fact and Fiction as Identity” by Rachel Britton, SUNY Geneseo

This is part of a series on Embracing Uncertainty: Writing the Hybrid

A provocative manifesto for writing about oneself, one's experience, one's history: Stand up to your inner authoritarian. Realism is unreliable. Memory is a convincing dreamstate. Alternative facts are not always malignant. Embrace uncertainty: uncover new truths by mixing modes, forms, and genres.

These writing workshops explore hybrid forms of writing about the self. These creative nonfiction writing workshops ask you to fill in the blanks with fiction; to capsize your reportage in a poem; to tell stories about yourself and your people in the truest way possible: by blurring boundaries.