Conference Schedule 2020
Friday, February 21, 2020, 4:15 p.m. to 5:15 p.m.
The Fictional Realities of the Nonfictional "I" with Sarah Viren
Date(s): Friday, February 21, 2020, 4:15 p.m. to 5:15 p.m.
Location: Heritage, University Club (view map)
Type(s): Craft Talk, Presentation
Genre and Form(s): Creative Nonfiction, Fiction, Memoir, Poetry
Tags: Narration, Character, Narrative, Characterization, Persona
About the Session
First-time memoirists and essayists often assume a direct translation between the person they are in real life and the life they make for themselves on the page. But an under-discussed truth about personal narrative is that our "I" must be invented each time, much in the same way that we recreate ourselves for different ages or situations: the classroom, the bedroom, parenthood, sleep. In this craft talk, we will discuss the gap between the "I" we feel we are in the real life and her shadow-self we bring to life on the page, using what we learn in this investigation to explore larger questions regarding narration and characterization--primarily in creative nonfiction, but also in poetry and fiction as well.
