Upcoming Kundiman Events:
Women, Memoir, and Nonfiction
with Jen Lue
October 16th–December 18th
Saturdays, 1:00–3:30 PM ET
“As a writer, I’ve always been interested in working with archetypes as a way of asking questions, exploring the self, and understanding elements of character and personality.” - Jen Lue, Bloom, “Tarot, Astrology & Storytelling: A Conversation with Chaya Babu & Swati Khurana”
Memoir and biography have long been the domain of politicians, philosophers, and “great men.” This 8-week workshop will provide a background on memoir and creative nonfiction while also investigating how women authors have been queering the genre since its inception. What are the ethics of writing about family, loved ones, and the domestic sphere? How can gossip, myth, and reimagining constitute nonfiction?
This course will include readings of Sei Shonagon’s The Pillow Book, Natalia Ginzburg, Vivian Gornick, Saidiya Hartman and Jamaica Kincaid alongside contemporary Asian American writers like Kat Chow and Nicole Chung. Each student will have the chance to workshop a 10 to 15 page work-in-process.
This workshop will not meet on Saturday, November 27th.
eligibility:
This workshop is open to only Asian American writers, and students must be able to attend all 8 sessions of the workshop. The non-refundable tuition fee is $495. This workshop will be limited to 12 participants and will be held over Zoom. There is one scholarship spot available, and the application is open through Friday, September 24th.
Registration for this class is now closed.
FACULTY:
Jen Lue is a writer and graduate of the MFA program in memoir at Hunter College. She is the recipient of fellowships and residencies from Asian American Writers’ Workshop, Kundiman, VONA/Voices, Tin House, Jerome Foundation, Vermont Studio Center, Millay Colony, and Anderson Center at Tower View, among others. Her work has been featured in The Margins, BOMB Magazine, and Joyland. She lives in Brooklyn, NY and works for The Moth, a storytelling nonprofit.