https://www.lafayettewritersstudio.com/adult-classes

Build Me a Hummingbird of Words: Micro-Memoirs. Length of Class: 2 hours

The hummingbird is the only bird that can fly forward, backward, sideways, and, for short distances, upside down—hummingbirds can do things other birds can’t do precisely because they are so small. In this class, we’ll look at tiny texts and learn what can be accomplished in a small space that can’t be accomplished in a bigger one. What can we learn by radically shifting scale? How can attention to the tiniest literary creations challenge and inspire us? We'll look at word-hummingbirds such as the monostich, the 6-word memoir, the aphorism, the ten-second essay, and the American Sentence. We’ll end with a focus on the micro-memoir. Combining the extreme brevity of poetry, the narrative arc of fiction, and the truth-telling of creative nonfiction, the micro-memoir is an exciting hybrid form that blends inheritances from multiple literary parents. I’ll share ten things I’ve learned from writing micro-memoirs, and we’ll end class with a prompt so students can write their own.