Life Writing: chronicling the self
Time: 18:00 - 19:30
Location: Online
We'll look at the interesting and innovative (and sometimes obsessive) ways in which writers have documented their experiences, identities and travels, exploring what it means to share the most intimate parts of our experience with others.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.
- Course Code: HLT157
- Dates: 27/01/25 - 17/03/25
- Time: 18:00 - 19:30
- Taught: Mon, Evening
- Duration: 8 sessions (over 8 weeks)
- Location: Online
- Tutor: Megan Beech
Course Code: HLT157
Duration: 8 sessions (over 8 weeks)
Please note: We offer a wide variety of financial support to make courses affordable. Just visit our online Help Centre for more information on a range of topics including fees, online learning and FAQs.
What is the course about?
Looking at a wide array of texts from across the centuries, this online course seeks to answer questions of why we write and record autobiographical accounts and, perhaps more potently, why we are still so drawn to read them? We’ll explore the difference in forms from letters to autobiography to memoir and think about how each of these forms impacts the way in which we understand and interact with the lives of others. We’ll think about questions of the confessional and the private, the role of life writing in making real world change, and the limitations and creative challenges of documenting and enlivening a figure on the pages of a book. This course will introduce you to a range of writers, from the 18th Century letters of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu to the searing 2020 memoir of the poet Lemm Sissay. Across 8 weeks, the course aims to inspire you by presenting not only a great diversity of life circumstance and experience but a fantastic selection of approaches to writing and documenting them.
This is a live online course. You will need:
- Internet connection. The classes work best with Chrome.
- A computer with microphone and camera is best (e.g. a PC/laptop/iMac/MacBook), or a tablet/iPad/smart phone/iPhone can be used if you don't have a computer but please note the experience may be less optimal.
- Earphones/headphones/speakers.
We will contact you with joining instructions before your course starts.
What will we cover?
1) Introductory session: Writing Life and the Life of the Writer
(No set reading)
2) Epistolary (non-)fictions: Lady Mary Wortley Montagu - selections from the Turkish Embassy Letters (1716-1717) (Google Classroom)
James Baldwin, The Fire Next Time (1962) (Google Classroom)
3) Diary and Notebooks as Life Writing: Joan Didion, ‘On Keeping a Notebook’, Slouching Towards Bethlehem (1969) (Google Classroom)
Sarah Manguso, Ongoingness: the End of a Diary (2015) (Purchase or borrow)
4) Nature Writing: Extracts from Thoreau, Walden (1854), Robert Macfarlane, The Wild Places (2007) and Nan Shepherd, The Living Mountain (1977) (Google Classroom)
5) Writing the Difficult: Lemm Sissay, My Name Is Why? (2020)
Extracts from Susan Sontag, Illness as Metaphor (1978)
6) Creative Biography: Virginia Woolf, Flush (1933) (Google Classroom)
7) True(ish) Crime: Truman Capote, In Cold Blood (1966) (Available online but as it is a longer book you may prefer to purchase or borrow)
8) The Future of Life Writing: Closing session featuring brief extracts from several contemporary writers of memoir and creative non-fiction.
Most of the texts will be provided via Google Classroom and in extract.
The texts that we will read in full and are not readily available online to be shared with participants are:
Sarah Manguso, Ongoingness: the End of a Diary (2015)
Lemm Sissay, My Name Is Why? (2020)
The below texts are available online and downloadable as PDFs from the Google Classroom but you may wish to purchase/ borrow copies if you struggle reading longer texts from a screen:
Truman Capote, In Cold Blood (1966)
Virginia Woolf, Flush (1933).
What will I achieve?
By the end of this course you should be able to...
• Have an understanding and appreciation of the different styles and genres which form life writing.
• Identify key tropes which define this genre of writing.
• Analyse different forms of texts and media critically.
What level is the course and do I need any particular skills?
This course is for anyone who is interested in the subject. The course is suitable for all levels and you do not require any particular skills - just an enthusiasm for literature and a willingness to contribute to discussions. The course will provide an introduction to the subject but will also be useful for those wishing to build on existing knowledge in the subject area.
How will I be taught, and will there be any work outside the class?
The class will largely be taught through mini lectures, class discussions and group work.
Are there any other costs? Is there anything I need to bring?
All material will be provided in class and available on Google Classroom.
(Please see No.2 for details.).
When I've finished, what course can I do next?
Look for other Literature courses under History, Culture and Writing on our website at www.citylit.ac.uk.
Dr Megan Beech is a literature scholar and performance poet. She was the winner of the Poetry Society’s SLAMbassadors national youth slam in 2011. She has performed at venues including the Royal Albert Hall, Parliament, the Southbank Centre, Glastonbury Festival and Cheltenham Literature Festival. Her debut collection 'When I Grow Up I Want to be Mary Beard' was published in 2013, and her latest book 'You Sad Feminist' was released in 2017. Her poetry has featured on the Sky One's 'Russell Howard Hour' and the BBC iPlayer series ‘Women Who Spit'. She was featured in The Guardian lists of ‘inspiring young feminists in 2014’ and ‘Must Read Books of the Year 2014’ and Evening Standard's list of 'Ten 21st Century feminist icons'. She has recently finished a PhD at the University of Cambridge.
Please note: We reserve the right to change our tutors from those advertised. This happens rarely, but if it does, we are unable to refund fees due to this. Our tutors may have different teaching styles; however we guarantee a consistent quality of teaching in all our courses.