Beyond Chronology: Approaches to Memoir Writing

It’s natural to consider memoir writing an exercise in chronology: this happened and then that happened. Other approaches are available, however, that can expand the range, rhythm, and texture of a memoir and that open up the memoir to its near-relative—the essay. This generative workshop will use four chapters from my recently reissued memoir, The Road Washes Out in Spring: A Poet’s Memoir of Living Off the Grid, as points of discussion and as prompts for participants to do their own writing during the course of the day. By looking at different areas—setting, characters, topics, and history—participants will have the opportunity to see first-hand what can work for them.

Baron Wormser is the author of twenty books of poetry, fiction, and non-fiction, including his memoir, The Road Washes Out in Spring: A Poet’s Memoir of Living Off the Grid (2006), about the experience of 25 years of living in rural Maine. His latest book of poems is The History Hotel, published by CavanKerry Press in 2023. His honors include fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Guggenheim Foundation; the Frederick Bock Prize from Poetry; and the Kathryn A. Morton Prize. From 2000 to 2005, he served as Poet Laureate of the State of Maine. He is the founding director of the Frost Place Conference on Poetry and Teaching and the Frost Place Seminar. His essays were included in Best American Essays 2014 and 2018, and his poems have appeared in many journals and anthologies. Wormser lives in Montpelier with his wife Janet.