Tuesdays, 7pm EST, April 14-May 5
Online via Zoom
Some stories can’t be contained by the tidy linear narrative—they need to spill out into multiple streams, running alongside each other, telling more than one story at a time, bringing in research, art, and other outside references in order to make themselves clear. Braided essays are complicated and layered, like real life; built on association and resonance rather than a singular A-to-B storyline. They can also let us approach stories from our lives that are overwhelming—either emotionally or conceptually. Refracting and weaving can present new entry points into writing about experiences that may have felt intimidating or murky when appraised head-on.
This four-week course will guide you through the process of writing a braided personal essay that incorporates research, criticism, and/or other external elements—from generating an idea and identifying the various strands, to developing those strands, and, of course, braiding them together.
Get 15% off when you register by February 28 with code EARLYBIRD
Important notes:
Registration closes on April 6 or when max capacity of 20 students is reached
This class will meet over Zoom. The meeting will NOT be recorded, and can only be accessed live.
This version of The Braided Essay includes four weekly meetings, and does NOT include feedback on your essay draft at the end. There are also two other versions available:
"Lilly is a thoughtful instructor who provides hands-on, helpful advice for creating braided essays. From helping students to deconstruct examples, to generating & tracking threads, to the art of cutting, pasting & arranging braided threads into a final product, Lilly’s techniques & expertise help writers develop sharp, strong essays of their own. I highly recommend working with her for her braided essay class & other offerings. "
"Lilly’s course on braided essays opened me up to new ways of thinking about writing, particularly about how to shape complex material in effective and unexpected ways. She illustrates how fragments can be developed into strands or threads that, when artfully woven and juxtaposed in deliberate and sometimes surprising ways, add resonance and deepen meaning. She explores, too, how creating patterns of text by manipulating these strands can charge the white space between them in various ways, whether by adding meaning, tension, cohesion, or momentum. Lilly inspires, engages, and encourages."
"Lilly’s braided essay class was one of the best classes on craft that I’ve taken. I had been struggling with an essay that was deeply personal and important to me but it fell flat no matter how much I tried to rework it. Her class helped me envision it in a whole new way and I love the direction I was able to take the piece in. As an instructor and editor, Lilly is extremely supportive and motivating."