The Illustrated Memoir

Guided by Sarah Van Arsdale, learn to write and illustrate short memoir pieces and create visually engaging memoirs that will inspire your readers.

You don’t need to be able to draw to illustrate your written work. Using collage, photography, ephemera and paint, you’ll not only write but also illustrate short memoir pieces, designed to tell one story from your life. We’ll see how objects can inspire stories, and send the stories off in search of methods of illustration. No limits on what you can use: a wrapper from a pack of gum, a menu, a matchbook from that ill-fated date.

Because this is a writing course, we’ll also touch on some of the principles of narrative writing: setting, character, pacing and conflict. We’ll start with generative writing exercises, and in the later sessions, we’ll workshop both the writing and the illustrations.