Class

8-Week: Writing Oral Histories

This eight-week creative nonfiction workshop explores the intersection of climate change and racial justice through the lens of oral histories. Participants will engage with their own communities to document stories of resilience in the face of environmental crisis and political violence.

Using oral history interviews as a foundation, participants will write a narrative essay that weaves personal, communal, and historical experiences with broader social and environmental issues. This class is rooted in the belief that storytelling can serve as both an act of resistance and a blueprint for collective survival.

We'll read work by Dina Gilio-Whitaker, Morgan Jerkins, Elizabeth Rush, Kathryn Savage, and Valeria Luiselli. In the first two classes, participants will learn how to collect oral histories. Participants should plan to engage in one hour of oral history collection outside of class. In the following six classes, participants will gain the skills necessary to transform their primary source material into a creative essay. The teaching artist will deliver one round of written feedback to essays-in-progress.

Please email [email protected] at least two to three weeks in advance if you have any accessibility requests for this class. PLEASE NOTE: the elevator in Open Book will be unavailable for use from July - August 2025 due to modernization. This class takes place in-person, at the Loft at Open Book. Please see the Loft’s website for the most up to date information about the Loft’s COVID policies.