Creative Writing from Found Materials: Using Personal & Collected Archives to Spark Imagination

Whether you are an experienced writer or just starting out, this workshop will offer a friendly and supportive environment. Participants will be introduced to a variety of found materials, such as old letters, photographs, and memorabilia, which can serve as rich sources of inspiration. We will explore some published work—stories, nonfiction, poems, and mixed-genre work—to see how writers have used personal and collected archives. With select materials provided and writing prompts offered, participants will be invited to begin some new creative writing. A curated list of resources for further exploration will be provided. Come discover ways to include elements from the past in your new writing.

Class meets in person Tuesday, October 14, 9 am – noon.

Class size: Minimum 5, maximum 12.

Member discount: Members of Write On receive a 10% discount on all classes and workshops. To become a member, please click here. To receive the discount, members must log in to the website using their unique password and enter member10 in the promotion code box. The code is case sensitive.

Teaching Artist: Beth Mayer’s debut collection of short stories, We Will Tell You Otherwise, won The Hudson Prize & was selected as a Midwestern Collections Pick. Her short fiction has appeared in The Threepenny Review and The Sun Magazine, and has been anthologized in American Fiction and New Stories from the Midwest. Beth’s work was named among “Other Distinguished Stories” in the Best American Mysteries series & was a finalist for The Missouri Review’s Editors’ Prize. She was a Loft Mentor Series Fiction Fellow and holds an MFA from Hamline University, where she returned to teach fiction. Beth established and directed Minnesota State University’s first Creative Writing Certificate at a community college. She lives south of the Minnesota River with her husband & impossibly faithful dog.