Intro to the Lyric Essay: Unwrapping the Form

“For a long time I felt like a misfit with my writing,” says instructor Rob Williams. “I kept blurring genres and playing with form. My personal essays were made up of short, lyrical fragments, sometimes with diary entries or cooking recipes woven throughout. I didn’t realize until a few years ago that there was a name for this form (the lyric essay), as well as many other writers who were exploring its rich terrain.”

In this 5-week class, we'll immerse ourselves in this exciting form of creative nonfiction. We'll read a variety of pieces that fall into this category, looking at how the authors take risks that surprise and move us. In-class writing exercises and optional homework assignments will help us create our own lyric essays. We’ll learn essential tools to gain confidence with this form, such as how to construct images with sensory details, how to weave in excerpts or quotes from historical texts, song lyrics, diary entries, or newspaper headlines, how to use poetic language like alliteration and assonance, and how to experiment with structure and narrative.”

By the end of the course, participants will have created short drafts based on the four categories of the lyric essay: the prose poem, the braided essay, the collage essay, and the “Hermit Crab” essay. Writers of all levels are welcome.