Dream States, Multiverses, and Folklore in Memoir
Wed, Jun 19
|Virtual Workshop
In this primarily generative workshop taught by aureleo sans, we will look at our stories in a new way, from a different angle, diving into the “what ifs” of our futures and the “what could’ve beens” of our pasts.
Time & Location
Jun 19, 2024, 6:30 PM – 8:00 PM CDT
Virtual Workshop
About the event
This craft talk is a part of Abode's inaugural Retreat but all are welcome to attend. We look forward to virtually seeing you there!
About the Workshop: How do you write truth in a world and age where realities differ, beings shapeshift, and fake news proliferates? Emily Dickinson tells us, “Tell all the truth but tell it slant.” Sun Ra offers, “The possible has been tried and failed. Now it’s time to try the impossible.” Indeed, in memoir, writers can seek to reimagine what is possible/impossible. They accomplish this in a myriad of ways such as by speculating about alternate histories and realities, by conjuring, by working with the figurative rather than the literal, and/or by employing good old-fashioned time travel. Let’s speculate about the future and/or excavate the unknowable or unsaid in our histories with an eye toward liberation, fucking with Empire, and writing social justice. In this primarily generative workshop, we will look at our stories in a new way, from a different angle, diving into the “what ifs” of our futures and the “what could’ve beens” of our pasts. Together, we’ll talk magical objects and the alchemy of sensory experiences as we discover new pathways and connections between seemingly disparate things. These experiments will open up new avenues, thoroughfares, and portals to be used as fodder for your memoir manuscript.
About the Presenter: aureleo sans is a flamingo. She is also a Colombian-American, non-binary, queer poet and writer with a disability. She has been named a Tin House Scholar, a Periplus fellow, a Sewanee Writers Conference scholar, an American Short Fiction Summer Workshop fellow, and a Lambda Literary fellow. She is a flash fiction reader at Split Lip, and she has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, Best Microfiction, and Best Small Fictions. Her work has appeared in Electric Literature, Shenandoah, Salamander, the 2023 Best Microfiction Anthology, the Wigleaf Top 50, and elsewhere. She is currently working on a memoir in progress entitled NYMPH.