Fall 2026 ENG 311-001: Autobiographical Writing
CRN: 75562
08/24/2026 – 12/18/2026
In-person: TR 10:30-11:45am Instructor: Christina Nakyong Lee (leecn@hawaii.edu)
Where: Kuykendall HAll Room 409A
Office hours/Location: Thursday 9:00-10:00am / KUY 218 (or by Zoom appt outside of office hours)
Course Description
Truth-telling is an important aspect of autobiographical writing and what differentiates it from the novel. Because autobiographical writing is referential, and because it is the story of a real person, it has a sort of force, an impact in the real world. Yet, there are writers who integrate elements of fiction in the stories about their lives for a number of reasons.
The question then is, what is “truth?” Is there a difference between fictionalization and outright lying? Who determines the definition and boundaries of “truth?” And ultimately, can an autobiography and life writing more generally actually be whole-heartedly “truthful?”
In this class, we will be exploring primary texts that blur the lines between fact and fiction, thinking critically about how elements of the novel are used in autobiographical writing, how the writer calls attention to these moments if they do, and finally, the possibilities as well as limitations of such blurring.
On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong is what our course was inspired by. Published as an autobiographical novel, this genre-defying primary text was originally a collection of smaller personal essays, one published in the New Yorker. The forms writers choose to use are rhetorical – they perform or enact agency in different ways that are necessary during a particular moment in time.
We will engage in our own series of writing experiments, reflecting critically on 1) the stories we want to tell, 2) what force they have on the real world, and 3) how our creative articulations can perform identity. Let’s not forget the power stories have to heal. Self-life writing is more than just a practice of writing about one’s life. It is a form of communication. Rather than seeing our writing as enclosed in its own box, I want us to critically reflect on how we can communicate to our readers who we are, and how we see ourselves in relation to a particular community and society at large.
Upon constructing our writing experiments, we will engage in a series of class workshops. In these workshops, the class will read an expansion of your writing experiments and offer generative feedback. At the end of the semester, you will compile a writing portfolio that includes a polished version of your workshop piece and a short cover letter to your dream literary journal.
This class will be of particular interest to you if you are in or are planning to be in the creative writing, cultural studies, and literature fields.
Tentative Assignments
- In-class writing activities
- Four writing experiments
- Lead the Discussion presentations
- Two workshop pieces
Required Texts (All other texts/films will be provided)
I, Rigoberta Menchú (2024), Rigoberta Menchú; ISBN 978-1804296004
The Man Who Could Move Clouds: A Memoir (2022), Ingrid Rojas Contreras; ISBN 978-0-593-31116-5
On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous (2019), Ocean Vuong; ISBN 9780525562047