Intro to the Lyric Essay: Unwrapping the Form

Maggie Nelson, author of the acclaimed memoir, The Argonauts, calls the lyric essay a “hybrid account” of living and “an experiment with anecdote and lived theory… that performs a certain insistence: this IS related to that, disparate as these things may seem.”

“In this 5-week class, we'll immerse ourselves in the lyric essay,” says instructor Rob Williams. “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 pieces 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.