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Introduction to The Art of Nonfiction: A 6-Week Survey with Jill Talbot (Zoom) starts on Saturday, November 1st, 2025
$425.00

Introduction to The Art of Nonfiction: A 6-Week Survey with Jill Talbot (Zoom) starts on Saturday, November 1st, 2025

Starts Saturday, November 1st, 2025

Class will meet Weekly via Zoom on Saturdays from 11:00AM - 1:00PM Central for 6 Weeks

Note: We will skip Saturday, November 29 (the weekend following Thanksgiving)

Any questions about this class? Use the Chat Button to talk with us. 

Instructor Jill Talbot is the author of The Last Year: Essays (Winner of Wandering Aengus Press Editor’s Prize, August 2023), a collection based on her Paris Review Daily column. She’s also the author of The Way We Weren’t: A Memoir (Soft Skull, 2015) and Loaded: Women and Addiction (Seal Press, 2007), a collection of personal essays. Talbot is the co-editor of The Art of Friction: Where (Non)Fictions Come Together (U of Texas Press, 2008) and the editor of Metawritings: Toward a Theory of Nonfiction (Iowa, 2012). She won The Florida Review’s 2021 Jeanne Leiby Chapbook Award for her short story collection, A Distant Town (2022). Her writing has appeared in journals such as AGNI, Brevity, Colorado Review, Diagram, Gulf Coast, Hotel Amerika, LitMag, The Paris Review Daily, and The Rumpus and has been recognized seven times in The Best American Essays.

Who is this course for? This course is for writers interested in learning about nonfiction in various modes, including the personal essay, memoir, the portrait, speculative nonfiction, and the ekphrastic.

If you've ever wondered about terms such as creative nonfiction, literary nonfiction, or asked, "What's the difference between a memoir and an essay?"—this course will offer you an introduction to the following: the essay, the memoir, the portrait, speculative nonfiction, and the ekphrastic.

The first five weeks of the course will be divided between these genres, and each week, we'll meet for one hour to discuss the model works, and I'll offer mini-lectures and answer questions.

And of course, you'll try each one of these genres by writing brief experiments of your own.

During the final week of the course, you'll choose your favorite experiment to revise (and share with the group, if you wish!).

As we move through the course, I'll send you weekly feedback on your writing, and I'll work to ensure you finish the course with confidence in your knowledge and motivation to learn, read, and write more.

Students will receive links or PDFs of all assigned readings by authors such as Hanif Abdurraqib, Jo Ann Beard, Durga Chew-Bose, William Bradley, Steven Church, Charles D'Ambrosio, Elissa Gabbert, William Least Heat Moon, Jericho Parms, Joann Pocock, Aisha Sabatini Sloan, Angelique Stevens, Colson Whitehead, and more.

WRITING GOALS

During this course, students will be introduced to a variety of writers, both established and emerging; write 4-5 pieces of nonfiction; learn the major elements of the featured genres.

When students submit their drafts, they will also include three questions they have about the draft, and Jill will first focus on responding to those questions. Jill will also highlight what's strong and what's effective, what's working in the draft, as this is an introductory course. The goal is to learn and explore and experiment, so the feedback will also be encouraging and directed by the student's questions.

COURSE TAKEAWAYS:

  • Introduction to a range of nonfiction modes of writing.
  • Exposure to diverse voices in writing.
  • Highlights of various writers' views on what we call what we do.
  • Community and support in reading and writing something new.

COURSE OUTLINE:

Week 1: The Essay

Week 2: The Memoir

Week 3: The Portrait Essay

Week 4: Speculative Nonfiction

Week 5: The Ekphrastic

Week 6: Review and Revising

PRAISE FOR JILL:

”Jill's comments were supportive and probing and in no way presumptive, making for a safe and inviting process.” -former student

“I take a lot of writing workshops and classes and I have to say, Jill’s method, her demeanor, and her feedback were absolutely far beyond what I usually see.” -former student

"Jill has done more to expand my understanding of the essay than any I have encountered." -former student

"Publishing class with Jill Talbot was amazing. Chock-a-block with useful, practical, real-world tips.  She also gave us a look behind the scenes at what editors look for.  Can't wait to use all her resources!  And, Jill was fun, funny and warm. Really, what more can you ask for?" -former student

"I just took a class taught by Jill Talbot called the Writing the Lyric Essay. It was a wonderful generative class. I know much more now about lyric essays and feel my writing has improved!" -former student

ONLINE COURSE STRUCTURE:

Starts Saturday, November 1st, 2025

Class will meet Weekly via Zoom on Saturdays from 11:00AM - 1:00PM Central for 6 Weeks

Note: We will skip Saturday, November 29 (the weekend following Thanksgiving)

PAYMENT OPTIONS:

Tuition is $425 USD. You can pay for the course in full  or use Shop Pay or Affirm to pay over time with equal Monthly Payments. Both options are available at checkout.

  • Instructor: Jill Talbot

  • Starts Saturday, November 1st, 2025

  • Class will meet Weekly via Zoom on Saturdays from 11:00AM - 1:00PM Central for 6 Weeks

  • Note: We will skip Saturday, November 29 (the weekend following Thanksgiving)

  •  Tuition is $425 USD.