Discovering Character in Fiction and Nonfiction with Maurine Ogbaa

Whether you write fiction or nonfiction, discovering the full breadth of a character is an important process. Moreover, we can use plot to discover characters as writers and to characterize more deftly for readers. This workshop focuses on using cyclical plot events as a useful device which may create unique characterizations, create more inventive prose structures within your work, and connect to wider reading publics. In this workshop, we use Debra Monroe’s creative nonfiction essay, “Appallingly Specific Christmases” as an exemplary text. Together we will discuss the work, identify its commendations, and situate our own style, themes, and characters within the conversation. Then, we will write!

Class meets in person, Saturday, August 17, 1 – 3 pm.

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: 

Maurine Ogbaa is a second-generation Nigerian American raised in Houston, Texas. Her work has appeared in Callaloo, Prairie Schooner, AGNI, third coast, The Elephant (Kenya), and Glasstire. It has been recognized with the Glenna Luschei Award and nominated for a Pushcart Prize and the Caine Prize for African Writing. Maurine has attended national and international writing workshops at Tin House, Rivendell Writer’s Colony, and the Pan-African Literary Forum in Accra, Ghana. Additionally, she has been a writer-in-residence at the Jentel Art Residency, the Virginia Center for Creative Arts, and the Elizabeth Murray Artist Residency. Maurine earned an MFA in Creative Writing at Washington University in St. Louis and a PhD in Literature at the University of Houston. Currently, she teaches literature and creative writing at University of Texas-Dallas.