Writing the Personal Essay | Mechanics' Institute

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Writing the Personal Essay
Instructor: Lindsey Crittenden

Join us for an afternoon’s exploration and celebration of the personal essay. We’ll discuss what life material lends itself to the form, whether a small, precisely observed moment or a lifelong obsession. We’ll look at published examples in the Mechanics’ collection, and students will complete in-class exercises leading to their drafting a 1000-word essay of their own. Small class size will allow for concentrated focus on class material and for instructor feedback on all student work.

The personal essay is as old as Seneca and as relevant as this week’s New Yorker. Writers as diverse as Joan Didion, George Orwell, and David Foster Wallace have excelled at the form, proving its elasticity and variety. Essays—from the French verb essayer, “to try”—involve thinking on the page, exploring assumptions and observations as well as describing the world around us, from the death of a moth (Virginia Woolf) to a meditation on hating (William Hazlitt).

Enrollment closes at noon on the day of the class. Course Fee is not refundable 14 days or less from class date.


Lindsey CrittendenLindsey Crittenden is the author of an award-winning short-fiction collection The View From Below and a memoir The Water Will Hold You ("exquisitely written," Publishers Weekly starred review). Her personal essays and short stories have appeared in The New York Times, Spirituality & Health, Real Simple, Arroyo Literary Review, Best American Spiritual Writing, and other publications. She has taught creative writing for almost 20 years and was recently named an Honored Instructor at UC Berkeley Extension.

“Writing the Personal Essay class was terrific. Lindsey was very well prepared, had a clear organization to the class and was very enthusiastic about the subject matter. Her examples were well chosen and helpful. She knew how to get positive, creative results from attendees in three hours!” - a member

Classes

Admission: 
Members $75
Public $95
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Location: 
4th Floor Board Room
Questions?
Information Desk - 415-393-0102
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