This class has been cancelled. Send me a note if you’d like to hear about future illness writing classes.
May 31-July 5, asynchronous weekly class hosted on Wet Ink
$261 Member Price, $290 General Public
The problems of modern illness are the craft problems of illness narratives. Overly technical language, periods of disorientation, the inextricability of one ailment from the next, and the onerous play-by-plays of treatment can make drafts of illness narratives challenging to read and even more challenging to revise.
In this 6-week workshop online through Seattle’s Hugo House, we’ll use published illness writing as our launching pad for exploring how to successfully manage the chronology, scope, and language of modern illness experiences. We’ll practice framing the same story in different ways, glimpsing how our individual stories might make meaning for readers. We’ll talk about the possibility of collage structures for the illness essay, seeking to widen the narrative lens through which we view our own experiences. We’ll practice upgrading medicalized language into poetry.
The class will also consider the established therapeutic value of writing about illness experiences, exploring the difference between writing that primarily seeks to heal and writing that seeks to reach literary audiences. And we’ll dig into the importance of illness essays in the culture: why these stories are so worth telling at this moment.
Participants should plan to read several published essays or book excerpts weekly, and should also plan to (optionally) submit a short essay for group workshopping in the final weeks of class (as well as provide feedback on others’ work).
Hugo House member registration opens March 3. General registration opens March 10. Scholarship applications open February 18 and are due March 13.
“Kati is so open-hearted and wise in her craft. She is not afraid to share and examine difficult subjects; she encourages her students to expand their viewpoints, and step out of their comfort zone, while at the same time guiding us gently through terrain that can be challenging. She is one of the most knowledgeable and open-minded writers I know. In her class “The Telling Itself” I started a draft of a personal essay, about a very difficult subject, and I haven’t experimented with this form in years. Kati was also very helpful in her critique of my poems, even though her expertise lies mainly in prose. The other class members became equally engaged in the class, and the entire experience was extremely enlightening.”
“I am so grateful for Kati’s course, The Telling Itself: Illness Narratives as Healing and Craft. This was my first writing course and Kati created a fine introduction to the craft, helping me start on a new and fantastic journey. Kati distilled so much about the craft to create focus and liveliness, without the ideas being overwhelming or out of reach. She inspired an atmosphere of discovery and ease so each student felt her own voice and understood more of her own story in a way that could only occur by group effect. No one wanted the course to end!
The impact was deep—changing how I read, think, and write. Kati helped free something in me, dissolving a fear and a holding back, leaving me with excitement to keep journeying in the country of writing.”