Guided by award-winning author Aaron Hamburger, examine how to write memorable stories based on personal narratives, whether in the form of a memoir or a work of fiction.

There are no available registration dates at this time.

Note: This Course will be held in a live, online format using the Zoom Platform.
Class meets for 4 Saturdays – March 4, 11 18 & 25 from 10:30am-1pm ET.

Participants will examine how to tell stories based on autobiographical material, whether in the form of a memoir or a work of fiction. Writers will consider issues like the limits of memory, our responsibility to our subjects who may read our work, and the best ways to use research to flesh out our stories and make them come alive. Fiction and creative nonfiction writers may also submit their work for peer critique.

Recommended texts

  • A Stranger’s Journey: Race, Identity, and Narrative Craft in Writing by David Mura
  • Making a Literary Life by Carolyn See

Instructor Aaron Hamburger has written multiple award-winning books and has taught creative writing at Columbia University, George Washington University, New York University, Brooklyn College, and the Stonecoast MFA Program.

Books written by Aaron Hamburger, 2023
Aaron’s book THE VIEW FROM STALIN’S HEAD was awarded the Rome Prize by the American Academy of Arts and Letters and nominated for a Violet Quill Award.

Listen to Aaron talk about his novel, Hotel Cuba, which tells the true story of his grandmother’s immigration journey from Russia to the U.S. via Havana, Cuba.

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Instructor: Aaron Hamburger

Aaron Hamburger is the author of a story collection titled THE VIEW FROM STALIN’S HEAD which was awarded the Rome Prize by the American Academy of Arts and Letters and nominated for a Violet Quill Award. He has also written three novels: FAITH FOR BEGINNERS, nominated for a Lambda Literary Award, NIRVANA IS HERE, winner of a Bronze Medal from the 2019 Foreword Reviews Indies Book Awards, and HOTEL CUBA, due out from Harper Perennial in May 2023.

His writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, The Village Voice, Tin House, Michigan Quarterly Review, Subtropics, Crazyhorse, Boulevard, Poets & Writers, Tablet, O, the Oprah Magazine, and many others.

He has taught creative writing at Columbia University, George Washington University, New York University, Brooklyn College, and the Stonecoast MFA Program.

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