We are excited to offer a 3 week intensive course in personal essay writing with author Jane Ganahl. Please note the sessions will take place from 4.00pm to 6.00pm on three consecutive Wednesdays: January 14, January 21 and January 28. The total cost for the 3 week session is $300, and is limited to 8 people.
About the Workshop
Every day there are moments that could inspire a personal essay: finding your late mother’s favorite shoes, being asked by your curious grandchild when you’re going to die, walking past a restaurant and smelling the pungent aroma of a birthplace you have not seen in decades. These are moments that cause you to pause, reflect and learn: the basis of a solid personal essay. In this three-part introductory class, you’ll learn how to identify these pivotal moments, find the lessons therein, and write about them in a way that resonates with readers. Because the best personal essays don’t just relate something that happened to you — they draw the reader in with deep sharing and offer a new perspective. The goal: write an essay - or at least get a solid first draft done - in three weeks!
Students will learn:
- How to choose a topic (and topics to avoid)
- The 5 elements of a good essay
- How to structure your essay with an outline
- The importance of perspective
About the Instructor
Jane Ganahl is a writer, teacher, and co-founder of the Litquake festival. As a Hearst newspaper journalist for many years, she wrote the “Single Minded” column for the Chronicle, which led to her memoir, Naked on the Page: The Misadventures of My Unmarried Midlife. She was also the editor of the anthology Single Woman of a Certain Age. Her essays have appeared in five different anthologies and in the magazines Spirituality & Health, VanityFair.com, RollingStone.com, Huffington Post, Bazaar, and Salon, among other places. She is also a crazy cat lady, with a small nonprofit that tends feral colonies on the San Mateo County coast. Read more at: janeganahl.com.
The workshop will take place in a second floor office at 1047 El Camino Real which is directly across the road from Kepler's Books. Please note that there is no elevator in the building.
COVID SAFETY PROTOCOLS: We strongly encourage attendees to wear masks at our events, although they will NOT be required. We will have masks available for attendees who want them. Do NOT attend the event if you, or any member of your family, have any respiratory symptoms (e.g. cough, runny nose, and/or sore throat), or have had a significant exposure to someone who has tested positive for COVID-19.
ACCESSIBILITY: We never want cost to be a barrier to admission for our community. Please email events [at] keplers [dot] org if you would like to attend this event but cannot afford a ticket. To request an accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) for this event, please email events [at] keplers [dot] org at least one week prior to the event.