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.

As individuals how do we curate, collect, collate, store, and exhibit the experiences that are our life? 

Working on the story about your life and experiences? Want a new way into your material? Join Dr. Renelle as we study the world of experimental memorists.

We will take inspiration from authors such as Dodie Bellamy, Maggie Nelson, Kate Zambreno, and others.

Each week will be themed, and you will spend two hours in class working on writing exercises, with a discussion at the end of each class to talk about the process.

Dr. Renelle graduated with a Doctorate of Fine Arts from the University of Glasgow where she researched experimental memoir and alternative creative writing structures. With this series of 8 class sessions, you can rest assured that you will be supported in trying out new and different ideas in a safe environment. Your writing will be invigorated with these new approaches. 

COURSE OUTLINE

Week 1 Self Care: Before you begin the journey of exploring it is important to first ground yourself and create boundaries for the writing. This trauma-informed workshop will give you tools and support for undertaking difficult subjects.

Week 2 Love: Who and what do we love? Is it people? Nature? Animals? How can we express love in surprising ways? This workshop will take inspiration from authors including Jenny Boully. 

Week 3 Family: Many of you will be working on a memoir that relates to your family. In this workshop you will try out techniques that protect them and give you new ways to write about family. 

Week 4 Grief: Grief can be more than the loss of a person. In this week you will be gently encouraged to explore all the forms of grief and to interrogate the 5 stages of grief. Author inspiration from Dodie Bellamy and Joan Didion. 

Week 5 Fiction: How might fiction help you create a distance from your memoir? Can you blend fiction and non-fiction? This week will take inspiration from authors including Eileen Myles and Carmen Maria Machado.

Week 6 Imagery: Photos, paintings, sculpture, and more. How can you play with visual work to create extensions of your writing?

Week 7 Place/Location: Where will you set your memoir? How does place influence and shape the way we write? This week will take inspiration from Kazim Ali and Rebecca Solnit as you think about all the places you have lived and how you can explore them in your writing.

Week 8 Structures: Footnotes, text boxes, inverted text, choose your own adventure, columns and more. Structural possibilities for text can be limitless and in this final workshop you will explore and think about the ones that might best serve your writing.

COURSE TAKEAWAYS:

• With a unique approach to memoir and creative non-fiction participants will gain a new approach that gives them safety as they deal with tough subject matter.
• Students will be writing lots of material which they will later be able to use for future projects.
• Students will have 20-30 minutes each workshop to discuss memoir and creative writing with their peers and an accomplished educator.
  
• Students will gain exposure to a variety of writers from diverse and interesting backgrounds.

TESTIMONIALS:

Professional Joy. Those two words are encapsulated in Tawnya’s approach and facilitation of the creative writing course I have been fortunate to partake of with Tawnya’s talent and experience at the helm. I can confidently say that I have been engaged with every session. The exercises are meticulously tried and tested to appeal and inspire a wide range of creative writers and disciplines. No stone is left unturned, and no avenue is off limits, everything is geared up to evoke and provoke an artistic response. I challenge any creative to complete a sitting unmoved by the accessible and encouraging style that is evidently part and parcel of Tawnya’s natural aura and personality.  -former student

Having undertaken my share of online and in the room learning tools and packages, I can say with conviction that the weekly meetings and mentor sessions have yielded results that have inspired me and will continue to do so as I look back on my notes for future stimulus. Knowing your craft and imparting it to others in a format that is understandable, universal and enlightening is a skill that requires constant honing but also an emotional maturity, a willingness to develop and grow in your own medium. Tawnya’s kindness and flexibility with informed knowledge and teaching methods are clearly what attracts other creatives to the opportunities on offer. I hope many more future writers of all walks of life are as lucky to have Tawnya as a guide in their creative practice. -former student

ONLINE COURSE STRUCTURE: