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The 2024 WORKSHOP is  AUGUST 26-30 at Wildacres Retreat, Little Switzerland, NC

REGISTRATION OPENS MARCH 1. Classes will be announced VERY SOON.

Writing Memoir and Personal Essays

with Judy Goldman


“If something is tugging at your life, you use it,” choreographer Judith Jamison said. In this workshop (geared to both beginning and advanced writers – geared to new participants, as well as those who've been in my workshop before), you'll learn how to turn your memories into art. We'll discuss coming up with that seductive beginning, finding your way into your voice, learning the difference between scene and summary, using reflection, turning the people in your life into characters readers care about.


I'll encourage you to have a naive faith in yourself, a sense of optimism about your work so that you can keep going even when you know you're about to step off the edge of the world. We'll discuss establishing a writing schedule that works for you and making time to write. I'll address truth vs. betrayal – how much to reveal about people close to you. I'll give publishing tips. Class will include exercises to help you discover your most engaging material.


Bring 12 copies to Wildacres of your opening 2 pages (absolutely no more than 2 double-spaced pages, normal margins, 12 pt. font) for group discussion and critique. Mail by August 1 those same 2 double-spaced pages to me at:


477 Fenton Place

Charlotte, NC 28207


Do NOT email them to me. I'll return these 2 pages to you – with my detailed written comments – at the workshop.  If you're just beginning and have no pages to send, that's fine; you'll still feel a part of this workshop.


Questions? Email me at: judygoldman@earthlink.net

Judy Goldman is the author of seven books — three memoirs, two novels, and two collections of poetry.  Her new memoir, Child: A Memoir, to be published in May, was named a 2022 Must-Read Book by Katie Couric Media. Her memoir, Together: Memoir of a Marriage and a Medical Mishap, was named one of the best books of 2019 by Real Simple magazine. Together also received a starred review from Library Journal.


Her first memoir, Losing My Sister, was a finalist for both SIBA's Memoir of the Year and ForeWord Review's Memoir of the Year. Her first novel, The Slow Way Back, was a finalist for SIBA's Novel of the Year, winner of the Sir Walter Raleigh Fiction Award and the Mary Ruffin Poole Award for First Fiction. Her second book of poetry, Wanting To Know the End, won the Gerald Cable Poetry Prize, as well as the top three prizes for a book of poetry by a North Carolinian.


Her work has appeared in USA Today, Real Simple, Washington Post, Literary Hub, The Southern Review, Kenyon Review, Gettysburg Review, Ohio Review, Prairie Schooner, Shenandoah, Crazyhorse, etc.


Judy received the Hobson Award for Distinguished Achievement in Arts and Letters, the Fortner Writer and Community Award for “outstanding generosity to other writers and the larger community,” the Lifetime Achievement Award from Central Piedmont Community College, and the Beverly D. Clark Author Award from Queens University.


www.judygoldman.com