Blog
Meet the Teaching Artist: Archives, Museums, & Memoir with Dr. Tawnya Selene Renelle
by Writing Workshops Staff
3 months ago
Dr. Tawnya Selene Renelle has spent her career curating experiences from both life and literature, fusing the worlds of personal narrative and archival practice to create something entirely new. With her experimental approach to writing, she invites you to become both the curator and the subject of your own story in her 7-week workshop Archives, Museums, & Memoir.
This course is more than just memoir writing—it's an exploration of how our lives can be collected, cataloged, and exhibited through the lens of archives and museums.
Each week, Dr. Renelle will guide you through thought-provoking exercises, helping you uncover the stories hidden within the objects, memories, and even the gaps of your personal history. Writers from all genres will leave this class with a wealth of new material, a fresh perspective on their creative practice, and a one-on-one mentorship to help refine their work.
Join Dr. Renelle on this artistic journey and discover how the museum of your life can become a powerful tool for memoir and beyond.
Hi Tawnya, please introduce yourself to our audience.
Hi there! I am so excited to get to teach this course as part of Writing Workshops! I have been teaching for over 10 years and love working with writers and artists of all genres and mediums. I am an experimental writer and love to explore poetry and memoir. My current obsession is cooking and embroidery.
What made you want to teach this specific class? Is it something you are focusing on in your own writing practice? Have you noticed a need to focus on this element of craft?
This is one of my favorite curriculums I have ever developed. The idea came to me after reading two books. No Archive Will Restore You by Julietta Singh and The Allure of the Archives by Arlette Farge. I read these books as part of my own process when I was finishing an experimental memoir several years ago. Thinking about my life experiences as an archive and my writing as an exhibition gave me a metaphor and a way to tap into difficult subject matter. I was so inspired by this concept that I wanted to create a course around it to help other writers.
Give us a breakdown of how the course is going to go. What can the students expect? What is your favorite part about this class you've dreamed up?
Each week we will explore the concept of archive and museums and its applicability to writing. Sessions will be writing intensive with exercises to keep you writing for at least an hour and will employ techniques from across genres. One of my favorite exercises asks you to create a fictious and imagined museum that represents your creative project. I have taught this course several times, trying all the exercises myself, and I can assure you that the approach is truly innovative and creates exciting spaces for writing!
What was your first literary crush?
That is so hard, hard to pick just one, so the best answer I can give you is that it was The Victorian Era that I crushed hard on. This means Charles Dickens, The Brontes, and Thomas Hardy first captured my heart.
What are you currently reading?
I am always reading more than one book at a time, right now it is The Heroine's Journey by Maureen Murdock and Fleishman is in Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Akne.
How do you choose what you're working on? When do you know it is the next thing you want to write all the way to THE END?
I am a writer who follows my instinct. I listen to my guts and this means that I am often writing without knowing exactly what it will become. I feel lucky because I work in experimental forms and let myself write poetry, prose, fiction, non-fiction, and everything in between. I will admit that I jump around a lot before I dive into a project, but once I get excited about something I move forward with it.
Where do you find inspiration?
I am constantly inspired by my students; I truly believe that being an educator is not only about imparting knowledge and information, but also about gaining it. I am also inspired by books I am reading. Recently I have been truly inspired by nature, gardening, the woods, and the ocean and have been lucky enough to be spending a lot of time in these spaces.
What is the best piece of writing wisdom you've received that you can pass along to our readers? How did it impact your work? Why has this advice stuck with you?
During my Masters in Fine Arts one of my supervisors told me that I would write more than one book. This advice truly helped me. It made me realize that I could explore all kinds of ideas, topics, projects, and more. I thought, naively, that the book I was working on was the only one I would complete. Now, here I am, 10 years later and I have written 6 books and am writing more. There was a freedom that came from this wisdom, freedom to write whatever I need to.
What is your favorite book to recommend on the craft of writing? Why this book?
There are two that I turn to again and again that aren't about specifically the craft of writing, but that inspire me and give me permission to write. Break Every Rule by Carole Maso and Betwixt and Between by Jenny Boully.
Bonus question: What’s your teaching vibe?
My vibe as a teacher is offering invitation. I want students to feel free to explore in privacy, meaning we don't share our writing as part of the sessions. Joining my course means you are dedicating yourself to your creative practice and it is the greatest privilege in my life to guide and share my ideas with you!
Learn more about working with Tawnya:
You can sign up for Dr. Tawnya Selene Renelle's upcoming seminar, Archives, Museums, & Memoir 7-Week Zoom Workshop, and join us for what promises to be an in-depth and engaging class!
Dr. Tawnya Selene Renelle is an experimental writer, educator, and performer whose diverse practices influence and shape one another. She holds a DFA in Creative Writing from The University of Glasgow and, after seven years abroad, has recently returned to her home state of Washington. Currently, she splits her time between Lopez Island, where she enjoys gardening, baking, and homesteading. Dr. Renelle publishes a weekly newsletter titled Pen and Paper Pioneer, exploring the intersection of writing and pioneer life. She is the author of the poetry collections, prompts and this exquisite corpse. Her essays and poems have been published widely.
