Katy Butler
is a writer whose first-person essays have appeared in the New Yorker, the New York Times Magazine, Best American Essays, and Best Buddhist Writing. Her medical memoir is Knocking on Heaven's Door: The Path to a Better Way of Death (Scribner, Fall 2013).
Straw Into Gold: The Alchemy of Memoir
Do you have a story you are longing to tell? This is your chance to take a great leap forward with the help of a memoirist whose writing has appeared in The New Yorker and The New York Times Magazine. In a spirit of spontaneous play, using prompts and free-writing, we'll first let the pen glide rapidly over the paper in short bursts. Be prepared to be surprised by what turns up, and to draw deeply from wells unfamiliar to you. Later, you’ll spin straw into gold, refining first drafts and long-held memories into polished scenes that can electrify other readers, even strangers.