Leo Tolstoy famously said, "Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." In this week long workshop, we will explore the sticky particularities of our family stories and how best to convey them on the page. Each day will be devoted to a different craft topic that will improve how you bring your family to life on the page, including Narrating Childhood, Characterization, Showing vs. Telling, and Writing Through the Unknown and the Unknowable. Through lecture, daily writing, and close reading of work from writers including Jesmyn Ward, Alison Bechdel, and Nick Flynn, among others, this course will give you the tools to help you locate the questions driving your desire to revisit the past. Students will finish the week with new material and fresh insights into old material. Come with curiosity, eagerness, and stories. This class meets from 2-4PM.