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If you’ve ever paged through Publishers’ Weekly or Booklist like I do every week you’re either a librarian or you just love to keep tabs on literary trends. Either way you have surely been struck by the number of memoirs published recently.

Memoir is the hot genre these days! What’s #2 on the New York Times Best Seller list for nonfiction? WILD, Cheryl Strayed’s account of her 1,100 mile hike along the Pacific Crest Trail. #9 is IT WORKED FOR ME, Colin Powell’s rules for effective leadership, and #10 is AN AMERICAN SON, by Marco Rubio, child of Cuban exiles and now Florida senator.

If you’ve ever thought about writing your own memoir I have an announcement that might interest you.

One of our members, Camille Cusumano, is hosting a class, The Art of Writing a Memoir, on Tuesday evenings in the fall. It looks like a great opportunity to familiarize yourself with the genre and jump start your writing project.

She plans to cover the essentials such as:

• How and why memoir differs from autobiography
• How to capture the essence of your personal experience
• How to make it captivating to readers
• How to shape the elusive narrative arc
• How to find and use writing conventions that fit your story & situation
• How and when to breakaway from conventions
• How to incorporate experimental writing

The class will be held in the Board Room (room 405) of the Mechanics’ Institute and take place on three consecutive Tuesdays: September 18 & 25, and October 2, 6:45 pm to 8:45 pm. The fee is $125 for all three sessions.

For more information and to register please contact Camille directly via email or (415) 425-6515, or visit her website.