James Lasdun,  a fiction writer, poet, and screenwriter, will conduct a workshop at the Writers Institute on memoir and the personal essay during the spring 2017 semester. Writers interested in creative nonfiction of every kind, from autobiography to reflections on art, nature, and other subjects, are encouraged to apply.

Sponsored by the New York State Writers Institute, the workshop will take place on the University at Albany's uptown campus for eight sessions, and is offered for noncredit, free of charge for non-University students. Admission to the workshop is based on the submission of writing samples.

The Memoir and Personal Essay Workshop, starting March 22, will focus on detailed discussion of students’ work, which will be supplemented with readings from authors ranging from Joan Didion to John Jeremiah Sullivan, Eliot Weinberger to Jenny Offil. Participants will be expected to be strongly self-motivated and to submit two to three works of up to 20 pages each over the course of the semester.

Complete information on the workshop and submission guidelines may be obtained by calling the institute at (518) 442-5620 or by visiting the Institute's website at: http://www.albany.edu/writers-inst/webpages4/programpages/workshop.html#.WHekR03FDs0.