Instructor:
Jeannine Ouellette’s lyric memoir, The Part That Burns, was a Kirkus Best Indie Book and a finalist for the Next Generation Indie Book Award in Women’s Literature. Her other books include Mama Moon and The Good Caregiver with Robert Kane, M.D. Her essays and short fiction have appeared widely in journals and anthologies, including Narrative, North American Review, Los Angeles Review of Books, and Masters Review. Her bestselling Substack, Writing in the Dark, explores writing as a metaphor for life.
Jeannine teaches writing at the Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop and the University of Minnesota. Her craft book, One Word at a Time: A Creative Practice for Transforming Your Writing and Your Life, is forthcoming from Rodale Books.
Course Description:
This workshop will move writers beyond “what happened” toward embodied memoirs that allow readers to not only understand the story but to live it. The memoirist, like the novelist, must articulate the story’s narrative arc and move readers along it with an engaging narrator. This is complex because to narrate memoir is to experience oneself as a trinity: the author at the keyboard, the narrator or constructed persona, and the character whose experiences form the story. This threefold perspective is key to plotting an unforgettable memoir that captures experience and meaning with strong emotive capacities to move readers and live on in their imaginations. For writers of all levels.
In class we will explore:
- Finding the premise, timeframe, narrative arc and “aboutness” of your memoir
- Writing scenes that keep readers turning the page, while building the story’s larger architecture
- Navigating the trinity of roles as author, character and narrator
- Externalizing the internal to dramatize emotion
Preparation:
By May 1, 2026, please send to admin.pww@wice-paris.org:
- your memoir’s opening or most compelling scene (max 10 double-spaced pages). If you're just starting your memoir, just send what you can!
- a cover letter (2 pages max) describing yourself as a writer and the history of your project, including how long you’ve been working on it, current word count, and any challenges you face
- please include your masterclass name with your materials.
Your classmates and I will read your submission in advance of our week together and be prepared to discuss our observations in detail.
Agent Consultations:
Available exclusively to participants who have enrolled in a masterclass, you can register for one or two agent consultations for an additional fee. More information to come.
Cancellation Policy:
- Full refund through 15 April 2026 minus 100€ admin fee
- Half refund through 30 April 2026 minus 100€ admin fee
- Sorry, no refund possible after 30 April 2026
In the event of unforeseen circumstances, PWW reserves the right to replace an instructor.
Photo credit: © Max Ouellette-Howitz
