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“Since brevity is the soul of wit,” join us for a day of reading and writing flash memoir. A close cousin to flash fiction—a complete story with distinctive characters, setting, tone, and twist—this genre zeroes in on brief-but-significant moments from our real lives and requires lean, precise language.
Crafted well, a flash memoir touches and transforms both writer and reader. Think “Readers Write” in The Sun magazine, the single most popular feature in every month’s issue. Typically, a flash memoir identifies a turning point and illustrates it without a single wasted word. Instructor Kathleen McClung says, “We flash memoirists are pickpockets: We get in and get out quickly. We take something valuable.”
Class participants will read and talk about a variety of published flash memoirs, mostly in the 500-word range, and will generate, share—and perhaps whittle down!—several pieces of their own over the course of the day. “We will also talk about journals and contests that welcome this genre,” says Kathleen. “Whatever kind of writing you do—from haiku poetry to intricately layered novels—a day experimenting with flash memoir will enhance your soul and your wit.”