Autobiographical Writing

Autobiographical Writing: Writing Lives

In this course will read creative nonfiction texts that convey lived experiences, which often navigates trauma, identity, or the body. We will examine how these creative nonfiction/autobiographical accounts bear witness, negotiate childhood, and/or understand the idea of a self. We will discover ways we can interact with texts that deal with difficult subject matter.

Additionally, you will be experimenting with creative writing techniques to produce your own creative nonfiction/autobiographical work. We will write to create self-representation through creative writing techniques such as memory as archive, body as script, narrative focalization, summary and scene, detail and description, and voice—to name a few techniques. As we write, will look to forms of creative nonfiction that will require us to question the ethics of writing true stories. Can we write anything and everything and call it true? Additionally, we will begin to look at scholarship surrounding creative nonfiction discourse.

  • Saif, Atef Abu The Drone Eats with Me
  • Mailhot, Terese Marie Heart Berries
  • Gay, Roxanne Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body
  • Satrapi, Marjane Persepolis: A Story of a Childhood

Additional PDFs will be posted to Laulima

Assignments:

  1. 4 Response posts on Laulima
  2. Lit Review (1000- 1200 words)
  3. Weekly creative writing draft pages
  4. Midterm Reflection (100-1200 words)
  5. Portfolio

Please contact Rain Wright via email at rwright7@hawaii.edu for further information on this exciting course!