An Introduction to the Memoir

12-week online writing course begins Monday 19 September 2022

Do you want to tell your own story? Life stories have resonance for others and are a gift to be shared. In this online creative writing course led by Monique Roffey, winner of the Costa Book of the Year 2020 for The Mermaid of Black Conch, you will develop an understanding of the how to write a memoir and the ways shame and taboo might hold you back from writing.

You’ll be exposed to a wide variety of memoirs told through a range of forms – from memoirs written in first person, or even second person point of view, to memoirs told in snapshots, experimental montage, and even graphic memoirs. A substantial portion of the texts used in this course will be written by non-professional writers, so, whether you’ve got previous writing experience or not, you’ll find work written by people easily relatable.

What the course covers

1. Why Write Your Story?
2. Looking Back/the Reflective Voice
3. Shame vs Vulnerability
4. Point of View and hybrid memoirs
5. Being Ready to Write
6.  Composition and Form

Designed by the School of Literature, Drama and Creative Writing at University of East Anglia and the National Centre for Writing.

This course is intended for writers aged 18+. If you’re looking for courses suitable for younger writers, check out these online workshops!

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About your tutor

Monique Roffey is an award-winning Trinidadian-born British writer. The Mermaid of Black Conch, her most recent novel, won the Costa Book of the Year, 2020 and was shortlisted for the Goldsmiths Prize, 2020, the Rathbones/Folio Award, 2021 and the Republic of Consciousness Prize, 2021. It was also long listed for the Orwell Prize for Political Fiction and the OCM Bocas Award for Caribbean Literature.

Monique is a Senior Lecturer at The Writing School, at MMU, and a tutor online for the National Centre for Writing. The Tryst, (Dodo Ink), 2017, was widely reviewed, and in 2014, House of Ashes, was shortlisted for both the Costa Novel Award, 2015, and the OCM Bocas Award for Fiction, 2015. Archipelago, published in 2012, a New World odyssey which examines loss, grief and climate change, won the OCM Bocas Award for Caribbean Literature in 2013. The White Woman on the Green Bicycle, first published in 2009, received widespread critical acclaim and was shortlisted for the Orange Prize 2010 and the Encore prize 2011. It was heralded as a major contribution to the New Generation of Caribbean fiction coming out of the region. Her erotic memoir, With the Kisses of his Mouth was published to much praise and controversy in the summer of 2011. Website

How it works

All you need is a computer and an internet connection. You can find out more about the requirements here.

The twelve-week course is divided into six fortnightly modules. Participants will analyse extracts from a range of memoirs – including graphics memoirs to memoirs told in snapshots, montage, and verse – before discussing them with the tutor and fellow students.

The modules are posted fortnightly. Every two weeks you will submit an assignment to your tutor, who will then respond with constructive feedback and advice.

Click here to find out more about how our courses work and whether they’re right for you!

This is a practical and engaging course with direct, expert tutor feedback.

Designed by the University of East Anglia and the National Centre for Writing.